No matter if you are a pessimist or an optimist, Derek Esposito's life wasn't a good one nor a bad one. It was just a mediocre insignificant existence.

His father was a bipolar abusive man, capable of disappearing is his bedroom for days during the depressive phase. He would wake up only to eat, use the bathroom and the occasional "let's make your life miserable" fit of rage.

During his euphoric phase, he would work like a madman, but not having any talent either as a businessman nor as social climber, he was unable to both being successful and establishing the right connections.

In his natural state, whenever he decided to actually take his medications, he was just a coach potato that would stand up and go to work just to avoid the blame and spite from neighbours and peers.

Whatever was his mental condition, he always was a perfect example of an abusive father.

His sons were always a disgrace in his eyes.

They never studied hard enough, never were disciplined enough, nor did show enough respect.

And he was always there to remember them how wrong they were.

He would yell at them for the slightest mistake, constantly reminding them that they were just parasites that leeched off his hard work.

And when words weren't enough or when they did fail to meet his expectation with school grades or chores, there was no teacher like his leather belt.

Hence, Derek and Carl had to quickly learn how to fend off for themselves, since their absent-minded mother practically forgot about them right after giving birth, dedicating her life in pursue of peace and quiet, staying as far as possible from her spouse tantrums.

Derek was two years older, and desperately tried to take care of his little brother, but to no avail.

They grew up watching and reading stories about heroes protecting the weak and upholding justice. But no hero ever appeared to save them.

Every week they would be forced to go to church to worship a nondescript benevolent god and his son, the saviour of all mankind. But no matter how much they prayed or how good they were, no miracle occurred.

So, they simply stopped believing in heroes and instead of wasting time with prayers they crammed.

School was their only oasis, but that lasted only until the sixth grade.

Once in middle school, it didn't even take a month before the bullying started.

Their cheap clothes and gloomy disposition made them the easiest targets. They were so used being tossed around and insulted that they didn't even bother trying to fight back.

For a long time, Derek had considered it the worst moment in his useless life. After a month, he knew he could not take any more of that, so he tried to make things better.

He reported his father's abuses to the social services with an anonymous email, but being overworked and understaffed the social work assistant made a brief visit and never came back.

Then he tried to end the bullying by reporting their aggressors to a teacher, which in turn washed her hands by reporting it to the principal. The principal did not want to meddle with what he deemed as childish pranks, so he called Derek's parents to inform them of the problem, hoping they would let it slide. And at least his wish came true.

Derek, instead, took and extra beating for not being man enough to face his own problems.

"Are you really that stupid to never learn anything from me? Never delegate, if you want something done right, do it yourself!"

Derek had never felt so helpless and desperate, so that night he bawled his eyes out, until he fell asleep. That had been the last straw.

The next day he felt different, clearheaded like never before. It was not the time for despair anymore, he needed a plan.

It would take him years to realize that something inside him had died. He was no longer able to trust, hope or develop any sense of kinship. He was surrounded by enemies, and to survive Derek needed to be able to fight back.

So, Derek asked his father to let him join a dojo and learn martial arts, and to his surprise he did not have to beg or even ask twice. His old man was glad that his wimpy and scrawny poor excuse of a child was finally interested in becoming a man. His only condition was that Derek was not allowed to quit for at least one year, otherwise he would have to pay for it.

Not only Derek started practicing aikido almost daily, he would also wake up two hours earlier every single day to build muscles doing push ups, squats, sit ups and running until he was out of breath.

In a few months he was finally able to do every day 100 push ups, sit ups and squats and run for at least 10 kilometres before going to school.

Aikido soon revealed to be a perfect choice for his situation. At low level was mainly focused on self defence but there plenty of space for attacking and fighting dirty.

By practicing martial arts, he finally discovered something he was good at. He was not particularly nimble, nor a fast learner. His hand to eye coordination was also average at best. His talent lied in the ability to spot the best time to hit a sensible spot during a block or a defensive manoeuvre.

Even when the sensei was teaching sword or tanto arts, Derek was always able to grasp the killing moves at his first try, sometimes even before the sensei completed the practical demonstration.

It was an exciting yet disappointing discovery since his only talent had no practical use. Even if aikido was a sport with tournaments instead of a discipline, hits to groin, eyes and trachea were universally forbidden.

For months Derek kept training hard while keeping a low profile at school, planning his next move.

At the end of the first semester, Derek stopped hiding from the bullies and started replying in kind to every single insult they threw at him, using the best quick-witted roast lines he had found online. Derek paid attention to never go to the bathroom or to remain alone for too long, always keeping and adult witness in line of sight.

It did not even take a full day before his enemies were fuming and outraged. Only when the veins almost popped out their necks, he threw his bait.

"I have enough of your sh*t, as*holes. Meet me in an hour behind the grocery shop between Lincoln and the 3rd. Or are you too scared?"

"Since you seek death, I will happily grant your wish, you fag*ot. It will only be you and the three of us, alright?"

Derek nodded without believing him in the least. And he was right.

When they entered the back alley, they had brought along two more people.

Derek was waiting for them, leaned against the wall at the end of the blind alley.

"There you are. I was starting to think you would stand me up."

They started laughing. "Sorry we were late. Hope you do not mind we taking some friends for the party."

Derek shrugged, while grinning from ear to ear.

"No problem. No matter how much, worthless trash is always trash. I chose this alley because it's fully equipped with enough dumpsters to accommodate all of your friends."

The last line hit a nerve so they charged at him blindly.

"Gang up on him, guys! Do not let him escape! Let's how him who is the trash."

And so, they fell into his trap. Derek had come here preparing the terrain, and choosing the best spot the fight. A blind alley to not make them escape, the end of the alley so they would not notice the trip wire due to the dim light.

The first two fell down hard on the concrete, and those behind them were so worried about not trampling on their friends that never saw the steel pipe coming.

They did come in numbers, Derek had come fully armed. Using the pipe as a sword he quickly hit them respectively on the head, the side of the knee, in the groin. Only then he started hitting the two that were trying to get back on their feet.

While they were moaning and sobbing on the ground, he used a small knife to cut the trip wire, then he started beating them again and again with the metal pipe giving a special attention to the nether regions.

Deeply inside he knew what he was doing was wrong, but he could not care less. If the world was built to be unfair, the only possible course of action was to make it unfair at his advantage.

So, he took out the taser that he borrowed from his father and tased them until unconscious. Then he stripped them completely and took multiple photos of each one of them and even filmed them after arranging them so that they would seem to be spooning to each other. Then he splashed them with a bucket of cold water and sealed the deal.

"Sorry to ruin your Brokeback Mountain moment girls, but I need your attention for a minute."

When the bullies woke up, they were still in so much pain they could barely notice that they were naked and embracing each other. Retorting to Derek while he had still a firm grip on the steel pipe was out of question, so they kept quiet and listened.

"I have made quite a scrapbook of you, even a short movie, uploaded it on my computer and even into the cloud. And it would be terrible if someone, I do not know, like me, for example would upload them on all the biggest image hosting sites. You know how they say, internet never forgets."

The bullies started crying and begging.

"Imagine how terrible would it be! Whenever someone would Boogle your names, be it your grandma, your girlfriends or even the colleges you were willing to apply to, the first thing to appear would be those photos!"

"Dude, no!" "Please, I do not even know you. I was just making a favour to a friend!" "It was only a joke, please forgive me!"

The choir of begging gave him the goose bumps. Derek wanted to puke at their hypocrisy.

"I do not care for your pathetic excuses! From this day onward, you will leave me alone. And you better pray that nothing happens to me, because the cloud is set so that if I do not enter the password every day, it will upload them everywhere."

Without waiting for their reply, he turned back and walked away.

"Almost forgetting, I randomly threw your clothes in the dumpsters, can't remember which is which. If you don't want to go home in your birthday suit, you better start digging. So long, suckers!"

Derek returned home euphoric, almost singing. He had never felt so proud of himself and had the completely undeserved confidence that he would never think about those b*stards ever again.

The bullying ended, but his social life never stopped being miserable. How could he possibly make any friend with such a shameful private life?

He had to constantly hide the bruises with long sleeves and had run out of plausible excuses for his streak of black eyes months before. His classmates and professors simply pretended to not know and he just pretended to believe being that good of a liar.

It was painful, but manageable. He still had his little brother to share that pain with. Carl was all he had, his family, friend and confident. He was Derek's whole word.

But when that age came, he started having crushes toward girls in his school, and those feelings weren't as easily suppressed. Once again, he felt utterly helpless.

He could not tell anyone about his problems, could not allow people to get close to him, otherwise he would have to think of an explanation for not being allowed to bring any friend home. Let alone a girl he liked.

Derek was tormented by cruel thoughts, often demanding the heavens why what others took for granted was but an impossible dream for him.

Fueled by the hormonal storms Derek rage started growing relentlessly. He started having troubles sleeping at night, thinking about all those lovey-dovey couples out there.

Derek knew he was different from them. His crippling flaw wasn't being shy or having a bad case of acne. His problem couldn't be cured by any doctor, because it had a name and surname. Ezio Esposito, his trash bag of a father.

Derek started conceiving plan after plan to get rid of him, even if that meant killing him. At night he would device elaborate and meticulous plans that often involved prolonged torture, making Ezio suffer like Derek did for all those years.

But when morning came, he would always realize it was a dumb plan. More wishful thinking than anything else.

Derek lacked the means and the ruthlessness necessary for getting rid of Ezio. No matter how much he hated him, Ezio was still his father and he was just an angry teenager.

Kill Ezio? Sure. And what about then? Live a whole life ridden with guilt? Running away from home to avoid being the arrested? And with what money?

Killing Ezio would have meant abandoning Carl forever, and destroying any possible chance of being happy in the future.

So, every morning Derek would swallow his plan along with the porridge and move on. His only real prospect was to cram as a madman, get a scholarship and get out of that hell as fast as possible.

Time flew, and in the blink of an eye is was the last summer before Derek's first year of high school. Despite the hot climate, his heart was cold as ice.

Derek had already hit his grow spurt. That combined with his martial arts and muscle training had given him a mean look.

Ezio was aware of that, and being a coward had started to avoid beating Derek as much as possible making Carl the new favourite target.

Derek had already tried standing up for his brother, but the only result had been Ezio buying a nightstick from the local Army Surplus and getting beaten with it instead that with Ezio's bare hands.

He saved Carl from that by begging and crying, and only because the ruckus had alarmed their neighbours.

So, whenever Ezio threw one of his tantrums, Derek could only watch his brother getting beaten, again and again.

Then, one morning Ezio received his first big commission in years. So, he wore his best suit despite the heat and had Derek preparing him the briefcase and the laptop.

Ezio was in a real hurry, he could not afford his competitors to snatch this whale. It could have been his career making commission!

Derek rushed to the door, where Ezio was already waiting, and helped him adjust the laptop's satchel.

Ezio ran to the elevator, pushing the button like a madman but the light remained red.

Cursing his damn condo, the building manager and his rotten luck Ezio made a rush to the stairs.

And that's when Derek noticed it. Turning his head to follow his father, Derek noticed that the light made odd reflections on the hallway's floor.

Ezio had just passed in front of him when he realized that the janitor had just washed the stairs but forgot to put the wet floor sign.

It happened all in an instant. Ezio made a long heavy stride, all his weight down and forward and then his foot slipped.

Derek could have warned him, could have even extended an arm and prevented the fall. But instead he chose to remain still.

Ezio tumbled down the stairs, bounced on the next alley and tumbled again crashing downstairs. His body was a broken mess, all his limbs bent in unnatural angles.

As any teenager, Derek had his smartphone at hand, so he started to make several photos to prove that the floor was wet and there was no warning sign.

His mind was already planning on hiring the best shark lawyer he could and sue the building managing firm responsible for his condo.

Only then he carefully walked down the stairs to confirm Ezio's death. He was there, incapable of making a moan or asking for help, but his eyes were fixated on Derek, begging for help.

Derek grinned to him and said: "Do you really think I am so stupid to never learn anything from you? As you more than once taught me, never delegate. If you want something done right, do it yourself. Your smartphone is in your pocket, take it out and call 911. I'm just a failure of a son, I do not want to mess this up for you, daddy."

Ezio's eyes were full of shock and hate, but that lasted only a moment. His head went limp, his gaze blank.

A laughter fought to came out, but Derek suppressed it. Instead he started shouting for help putting on his best terrorized son impression.

As always, Derek's mother was too obsessed with her problems, her grief, her feelings to bother looking for the lawyer, leaving everything in Derek's hand, since Ezio was no more.

Three birds with one stone. After a careful research he contacted and hired the best shark lawyer they could afford, so that Derek would be his client instead of his mother.

He told him everything about his father's incident, the abuse, and the need to make so that the money would be split between the three of them, mother and sons.

Both Derek and Carl were very firm on that point, they wanted the lawyer to start the process to get emancipation. With the money from the compensation and the inheritance, they had enough to be self sufficient until Derek could provide for them both.

What followed was the happiest period in their life. First, they obtained the inheritance, and shortly after they got emancipated and moved away from their mother's place.

Not even a month later, they received a very generous settling offer from the building manager. They used it to settle up and make proper plans for the future.

During the following years, bullies were not a problem. Derek and Carl were now both martial artists and had each other's back. Finally they could experience having friends and girlfriends, their domestic nightmare finally over.

They suffered many disappointments though, since too many of those so-called friends turned out to be people that wanted to use their parent-free house as a party house.

Also they had an hard time figuring what being a normal teen was supposed to be. While their peers seemed only interested in having fun and skipping classes, they were focused on studying and saving as much as possible.

Derek and Carl would spend holydays and vacations doing part time jobs to slow down the thinning of their bank account. They were not poor, but not rich either.

They knew they had to save as much as possible, in case rainy days would once more fall upon them. But all in all they had a good life.

Derek got a scholarship and obtained a bachelor degree in chemistry, soon followed by a master in biochemistry. Carl was doing well too, already got his engineering degree, ready to study for his master and already had a fiancé.

Despite being really happy for his little brother, that was really a painful thorn in Derek's side. He had always been the more socially inept between the two, and never managed to get into a stable relationship, not even in college.

Derek had no problem talking to girls, the problem always lied in him being picky and ended in his inability to trust. He had had many crushes, but never fell in love.

At the beginning he put the blame on his bad luck, always finding shallow or idiotic girls. After finding more than one good girl, he put the blame on his dark past.

But when confronted with Carl's happy relationship he could only blame himself. While Carl had suffered almost the same things, he got out much stronger and pure than Derek.

Derek was just too scared of being hurt again to let any relationship grow above a certain level, and that was an enemy that he could not just beat up.

Derek accepted the first decent paid job he got, working in the night shift of a big chemical company in the Q&A department.

Carl had shared with him, as a graduation present, that he was willing to propose to his fiancé as soon as he got his master. Hence Derek needed money because he had only two years to save enough to give his little brother a decent wedding.

Derek did not like his current job, but it was a way to start his working career and filling his curriculum. Also it was well paid, and he resolved to use the company insurance to seek for psychological counseling.

He knew he had problems and wanted to work them out. Derek consulted several doctors before finding someone he was able to work with, and after several months he felt he was finally starting to make some progress.

But alas, such happiness was not bound to last.

It was a Friday evening, and Derek was getting prepared for work.

He was still stuck doing Q&A because the pay was too good and no matter how many times Carl said he wanted a small ceremony, Derek was sure that whatever they planned to spend, it would at least double in the end.

It was a goddamn wedding; hence things were supposed to blow off proportions at some point. That's just how they work.

Derek was adjusting his shirt when the smartphone rang on the notes of "Night on Bald Mountain", the pre-set ringtone for unknown numbers.

"Derek Esposito, who is it?"

"Mister Esposito, this is the Saint Joseph hospital." The female voice sounded worried. This together with the word "hospital" sent him a shiver down his spine.

"Is Carl Esposito your brother?" Derek could almost hear her biting her nails.

"Yes, what happened?"

"He was involved in a car accident and is in serious conditions. You should come here as soon as possible. The doctors need you since you are his healthcare proxy and the patient in unconscious."

"A car accident?!?" Derek yelled while rushing out of the door and looking for a cab.

"We don't have any fuc**ng car! What the hell happened?"

"I'm sorry, I am not at liberty to say. The doctors will explain it…" Derek hung up on her. He had no time for useless babbling, only for a goddamn cab.

Every second in the traffic was torture, and when he finally arrived it was too late.

The surgeon and a police officer explained to him that Carl had been run over by a drunk driver. The culprit had run off and the police was still looking for him.

A bystander had immediately called 911, but because of the traffic jam caused by the accident it took hours for the ambulance to arrive.

So, when Carl arrived at the hospital he was already in critical conditions. He had multiple fractures, ruptured spleen and internal bleeding, requiring immediate surgery.

Derek had been called while Carl was just entering the OR.

They had done their best to save him, but Carl had lost too much blood, so there was nothing they could do. They offered Derek their condolences, but all he could hear was white noise.

"Let me see my brother." He begged.

The body was covered by a sheet, only the head visible. Derek could still see traces of blood on the face of his little brother.

Derek left his number to the police officer to be kept updated about the investigations, and then returned home.

The culprit was quickly apprehended thanks to the traffic cameras. It turned out to be a kid, barely seventeen years old, that had stolen his old man's car and then got drunk and high with his friends.

Derek lived the months before the trial in anguish. The damned DA had decided to prosecute him as a minor, and the even more damned judge had granted him house arrests. All while his little brother, his Carl, was dead because of him.

"How could they do such a thing?" Derek would yell and argue with anyone willing to listen to him. "Why all this talking about the rights and the future of that little sh*t? What about my brother's rights? What about his future? Carl has none because of him! What kind of justice is that?"

Derek visited multiple times the DA office, expressing his outrage and demanding them to ask for the maximum sentence. They were always kind and accommodating, and promised him that they would not forget about Carl.

When the day of the trial finally come, Derek's world died one more time.

The DA and the defence attorney had come to a settlement.

Since Chris Wainright, this was the name of the murderer, was still a minor and that was also his first offense, he had accepted to go in rehab and do six hundred hours of community service. If Chris would complete his rehab program and did not commit crimes in the next three years, then he would be a free citizen with no criminal record.

Derek was too dumbfounded to even be angry. When the session was over, he just walked to the DA and asked a single question with muffled voice.

"Why?"

And then with their most kind and accommodating tone, the DA assistants explained to Derek that Chris was just a kid from a good family that had made a dumb mistake.

He had a brilliant future ahead, Chris had already been admitted at the Cal Tech and this was his first offense. Also, his parents had hired a great lawyer and the judge would likely be unwilling to destroy Chris' life.

Despite their expectations, Derek did not make a scene. Derek's fire was extinguished, he had no more tears to shed.

In the following days, Derek lived by going through the motions. He kept following his routine like nothing had happened, his brain still refusing everything that happened in the last half year.

The only thing that made him feel alive, was that constant headache that had started shortly after Carl's death. According to his doctor it was a stress related symptom so with all that had happened, Derek had just been swallowing aspirins and paracetamol like they were candies.

But the pain never did go away, instead it was getting worse. Derek finally found the strength to get a serious check-up, and once again bad news were waiting for him.

According to the full body scan and the follow-up biopsy, he had stage two pulmonary cancer.

"But I never smoked in my whole life!" Derek exclaimed more amused than scared.

"Indeed, it's odd." Doctor Monroe, his oncologist, was quite puzzled.

She was a good-looking Hispanic woman, maybe five years older than Derek. In another moment he would have probably asked her out.

"You told me you work for a chemical company, right?" Derek nodded.

"Such an aggressive cancer is too uncommon to be a coincidence. My personal opinion is that their ventilation system failed. You and God knows how many more people have been breathing poison from quite some time."

"But we wear masks the whole time we work with the chemicals, and speaking for myself, I follow the safety protocols to the letter. My colleagues always mock me for it!" Derek was still in disbelief.

"Then maybe the masks are cheap pieces of junk. Or maybe the lab or the storage, if not both have leaks. These corporate scumbags only seek profits.

It would not surprise me in the least if they cut from the safety budget to put more dividends in their pockets."

Doctor Monroe was too outraged, even in his catatonic state Derek could tell there was more to it.

"Doctor, what are you hiding from me?" He asked, looking her straight in the eyes for the first time.

She nibbled on her lower lip for a while before answering.

"Between you and me, you are not the first case from your company. I have already reported it to the Department of Health and to the federals. If I were in your shoes, I would get a good lawyer and sue the soul out of them. You'll need a lot of money for the treatments."

"I agree on the lawyer, but I refuse any treatment. I'll just take palliative care."

Doctor Monroe jumped from her chair.

"Do you realize that without the proper treatments you have six months, a year at best to live? Also, as I have already said, your cancer is really aggressive. We need to start as soon as possible if we want to a chance to beat it."

The situation was dramatic, but Derek found all those "we" words hilarious, so he could not refrain from chuckling.

"We barely know each other, doctor. So, we have nothing to do if not going separate ways." Derek said to her with an icy tone.

"What do I have to live for? I have no family, no loved ones. My little brother's ashes are all that is left to keep me company. I could die tomorrow and I would not give a s**t!"

They parted on bad terms, but she still gave him her number, in case he changed his mind or simply needed to talk. Derek called his old shark lawyer and explained everything.

Years had passed but they would still send each other Christmas cards.

Derek had kept tabs on him, just in case. He had now more grey hair than before but was still a first-class shark.

Derek stopped going to work and started spending his money without much care. He would go to all the fancy restaurants he had always wanted to try, bought the suits he always dreamed about and only ate his favourite foods for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Derek would spend most of his days playing games on his brand-new gaming PC and revisiting all the spots that held a significance for him and Carl.

Then, twenty-four days after the diagnosis he had an epiphany.

It was a night like all the others since he had quit his job. Derek would wear one of his new suits and wander off the city, to see what would it kill him first, the cancer or a random crazy head. Once reached exhaustion or simply boredom he would then take a cab and get back home.

Derek was walking with quick strides, high on his medications when he saw him. Chris Wainright. He was holding a bottle of liquor, ill-hidden inside a paper bag, from which he would drink in big gulps.

Chris was talking and laughing loudly with a teen girl that was showing a lot of skin. She was holding a joint, taking big puffs, until they traded and got into a car.

It was a custom painted muscle car. Not the same Camaro that Chris had used to kill Carl, it was even bigger and more expensive.

In that moment, Derek wanted to puke blood. How could he possibly have forgotten about that little b*astard? Had his cancer really screwed up his brain so bad to be willing to let such a loose end slip?

The tires screeched and the car started suddenly, almost running over a woman that was crossing the road. The skimpily dressed girl rolled down the window, yelling insults at the woman that was still frozen in fear.

Derek could almost hear that couple of idiots laughing. Gritting his teeth, he called a cab and started to plan his final act.

First, he started to stalk Chris on all the social networks, learning all his routines and habits. Then Derek began to follow him, and planted a GPS tracker under the Camaro to always know his exact location.

Simply skimming through Chris' Chirper, he found at least fifty violations of the parole deal. While following him, Derek took many photos of Chris abusing alcohol and drugs.

But Derek had no intention to submit the evidence to the police. What could he possibly gain from that? Chris would just get another slap on the wrist and then start being more careful.

Derek had not the luxury of time, nor the willingness of doing what the so-called justice system was supposed to.

Less than a week later, by checking Chris' Bookface page, Derek learnt of a rave he would participate to. Derek double checked his equipment and jumped into his new car, a black 1967 Chevrolet Impala.

The best car to hunt monsters with. The rave was "secret", hence it would take place in some run-down abandoned location.

Derek followed Chris closely, and as soon they were away from traffic cams he run into the Camaro from the side, forcing Chris to halt.

As soon as Chris stepped down of the car, Derek took him down with a stun gun, and then quickly proceeded to check if the Camaro had more passengers.

It seemed to be his lucky night, Chris was driving alone. Derek searched him and crushed every electronic device he could find, bitfit, smartphone, even Chris' keychain.

Derek tied him hands and feet and ball gagged him. Then he destroyed his own smartphone and the GPS tracker, tossing everything outside the road.

Then he moved Chris in the trunk of the Impala, headed toward a party only for the two of them.

Derek drove to an abandoned warehouse in the old industrial area. He had already got rid of the lock and chain that kept the big metallic doors closed, replacing them with his own.

Inside the warehouse there were only two chairs, both bolted to the ground, a bucket and several water tanks.

Derek opened the trunk, discovering that Chris had regained his senses so he tased him again. Then he took Chris to a chair and started tightly binding his arms and legs to it.

Then Derek splashed him with a bucket of water forcing him to regain focus.

"Hello, Chris. My name is Derek Esposito, and you killed my brother. We need to talk."

Chris tried getting out of the restraints, and while commending his efforts, Derek violently hit him in the groin with a nightstick. The pain paralyzed him.

"Were was I? Oh, yes. The last time we saw each other was during your farce-trial. Do you remember me?" Chris' panting intensified.

"Good. Let's get straight to business." Derek took two digital timers out of the car, setting the first to thirty minutes and the second to two hours, forty-four minutes and sixteen seconds.

Then, he pulled out a gun and double tapped Chris' liver. His scream was muffled by the gag ball, but the shots echoed loudly in the empty warehouse.

Derek started both timers simultaneously and came in close, checking the blood. It was dense and black, a clear indicator of a crushed liver.

"Now before the real pain settles in, I need you to take a good look to the timers, they are really important." Chris was crying and screaming, so Derek had to splash him again and pull him by hair to get his attention.

"The first timer marks how much time you have left. After it rings, even if someone should miraculously break through that door and rescue you, you would be dead anyway. You have only so much time until your system gets flooded by toxins unfiltered by the liver, to the point that no transplant can save you. The second timer is a surprise. We'll get to it in time. For now, your only task is to stay awake and savour every moment of pain, like Carl did."

The time flew, Chris kept screaming through the gag ball, and soon the fist timer rang.

Chris started sobbing even stronger, sometimes stopping only because overwhelmed by the constantly rising pain.

Derek would speak to him no longer, he would just pace back and forth, occasionally checking the second timer.

Every time Chris fainted, Derek would splash him and force him to stay awake before refilling the bucket.

When the second timer rang, Derek finally spoke again.

"I have bad news and I have good news. The bad news is that I lied before. I thoroughly researched liver injuries, and with such crushed liver you had no hope to begin with. Even if I had shot you in front of the best hospital in the USA, unless they had a compatible liver at hand, you would have died. I wanted to give you false hope, as happened to my brother while waiting for help. The good news is that you just suffered as long as Carl did. I may be many things, unrelenting, vengeful, a liar, a murderer but I am also fair. So your suffering ends now."

Derek pointed the gun to Chris' head and double tapped him.

Then he pointed it to his own head.

"Little brother, I'm coming. Wait for me." And pulled the trigger one last time.

While Derek's body was still falling, his consciousness was basked in light and he felt pulled toward the sky.

After months of grieving, a whole lifetime of misery and pain, Derek felt that all his traumas and hatred were fading away.

Derek had never experienced such bliss. In this new form he felt no negative emotion, he was in peace with his past, unafraid of his future.

Derek was enjoying a present that he felt could lead to endless possibilities, and there was no right and wrong, success or failure. He would simply be, no strings attached.

That intoxicating feeling lasted until he suddenly woke up, alive and breathing.

All his negative emotions returned, plunging him back into despair. Derek cursed inwardly while trying to focus his eyes. Maybe it was because of the shot to the head, but his vision was blurry.

"So much for the perfect plan. Some idiot must have rescued me and somehow I survived the journey to the hospital. I am still alive. I still have cancer. I am still alone." But when his eyes finally cleared up, they strongly disagreed with his reasoning.

Derek was in some kind of huge metal corridor surrounded by dead bodies. Alien dead bodies to be precise. They were all wearing some kind of full body armour, that resembled some kind of sci-fi space suit.

"Where the f**k am I? What the hell does this mean?" He screamed while trying to get up, only to fall back on the floor.

He fell hand first, and only then he noticed that he was wearing a space suit too, and that his hands, all four of them, had three fingers each.

"WHAT! THE! ACTUAL! F**K!"

After much screaming and freaking out, Derek finally regained his composure and started to analyse his current predicament.

The first thing that caught his eye was a huge hole in the space suit at the chest level. The contours of the hole had burn marks all over it and there was a lot of purple jelly on both his suit and the dead bodies.

That meant the purple jelly was coagulated alien blood. Derek turned his head to see the spot where he had woken up, noticing a lot of blood and even something that he found safe to assume were some kind of splattered viscera.

"This makes no sense." He thought. "All the evidence points to the fact that this body was dead as Julius Caesar until I somehow happened to inhabit it. And for whatever reason, it's also fully healed. Oh man, this means all religions are dead wrong! Luckyly I never believed in any mumbo jumbo, otherwise I would be really disappointed right now."

Derek then proceeded examining his new body. It had four arms, only two legs but all the limbs were long and skinny. The legs were reverse jointed, like those of a cat. Both hands and feet had only three fingers each.

Derek was really curious about his facial features but there was no reflective surface in sight. So, he tried feeling his face with the fingers, but the suit turned out to come with a helmet, which did not impede his senses though.

The only thing he could establish was the shape of the helmet, and based on it Derek's new head should have been something similar to a shark's dorsal fin.

Then he tried to speak. "Test, test. Derek Esposito. One, two, three." He could somehow do it, but it was still English. That meant that he did not inherit neither the muscle memory nor the intellect from the body's previous owner.

Derek tried getting up, but the centre of gravity was too different from his old body, so he had to give up and proceed crawling like a baby.

So, he started examining the corpses to make heads or tails of what was happening around him. Judging from the suits, there were two factions at war.

One had a red coloured space suit, and the other, which Derek was donning, was grey. He had no idea which side was winning, but it would not make any difference to him anyway.

Unless the suit was equipped with a universal translator, he was uncapable of communicating. Enemies would kill him on sight, allies would probably ditch him like garbage.

"Who would ever want a rambling idiot, incapable even of walking during a life or death situation? I'm not even here from a day and I am already as good as dead."

Refusing to give up, Derek managed to get up by leaning on the walls and started exploring.

The corridor had many doors, yet his choices were painfully limited, since he could only go through the open ones.

Derek had no idea how to open the doors nor how to operate the control panels that he found along the way. He tried pushing buttons at random but nothing happened.

And he was starting to get hungry.

"Will I die like this? Starving in a goddamned space ship, alien planet or whatever the f**k is this? I don't know what this useless pile of flesh eats! Even if I stumble on a mountain of food, I have no way to know what is what. And even if I did, I do not know how the heck to remove this helmet."

After walking for several hours, hunger and frustration drove him to hysteria. Derek screamed an kicked whatever was within reach, until exhaustion made him fell asleep.

When he woke up, his mind was clear again.

"This is a nightmare. I am all out of options, to the point that even if I wanted to kill myself, I would not know how." He banged the back of his head against the wall to keep frustration at bay.

"I never thought about this, but being reborn in a sci-fi environment is truly the worst-case scenario. Alien body, alien customs, complete lack of the new species common sense. And to make things worse everything here is so high tech that I cannot even operate a door. Heck, every god damn button could be tagged and it would still be useless to me since I don't know their language."

His hunger was rising and he was feeling weaker by the hour. Having no time to lose, he started wandering again, this time banging and screaming at every door he met, trying to draw some attention

Derek was on the verge of fainting again due to hunger and exhaustion when finally a door opened up.

The shock was great enough for him to lost his grip and fall to the ground. On the other side there were grey suited aliens in a wedge formation.

Every one of the was holding some kind of long metal staff as it was a rifle. Derek didn't even attempt to get up, he just waved a right hand, hoping it was a peace sign.

*"Captain! That's Xa'rk! His life signal getting back online wasn't a glitch in the system, he is still alive."* (from this point onward * means words that Derek does not understand)

The formation opened and a taller and bulkier alien closed in. The soldiers never lowered their weapons nor lost focus, waiting for the attack order.

*"What are you doing on the floor, soldier? And how in Thrak's name did you survive that ambush?"* The captain asked with a coarse voice.

"Dude, I have no idea what you did just said."

*"What is he rambling? Medic, any reading on that blaster wound?"*

A purple dressed alien walked forward while scanning Derek's body. *"None, sir. It's not any dialect in the empire. And the scanner confirms that the hole in his armour is definitely from a Corellan blaster. I have no idea how he survived it unscathed. It's a miracle."*

*"It's a liability."* The captain's tone was grim. He took a staff from a soldier's hands and by pushing a button it became a glaive, whose blade was made of pure energy.

"Well, seems that I'm going to die from a lightsabre. It's cool, one hit and I'll be turned into dandruff. Lucky me, another painless death incoming."

When the captain plunged the glaive into his chest, it did not make any burning sound. It pierced him from side to side, bleeding him to death.

The blade was not a laser-based weapon, but a hard-light construct, making it no different from an ordinary glaive.

*"Listen up, soldiers. Xa'rk was a good soldier and we will remember and mourn him as such. When and if we get out of this alive. But that thing, whatever that is, is a risk we cannot allow to take. Not with Prince Rek'hart in our care and those Corellan rebel scums still at large. Better some collateral damage than a spy among our ranks. Now shut that door and check the perimeter again."*

This time, death was far from painless for Derek. He felt like his chest was on fire, but what really hurt wasn't the wound as much the lungs.

Derek was struggling to breathe. Every breath was shallower and more difficult than the last. Blood started gurgling from his mouth, and he felt like slowly drowning.

His throat kept contacting trying to draw in air, but to no avail. It took Derek less than a minute to die, but for him it seemed to last forever.

Once again, he found himself basked by blinding light and pulled towards it. Just like the last time, he felt all his worries and rage fading, but instead of enjoying the feeling he was simply annoyed.

Derek had never believed in any god, hence he never believed in heaven or hell.

"Humankind has always been a terrible race" He thought. "It's impossible to define someone as truly bad. Most of the times the bad guys are simply people who never got a chance to be anything but criminals.

Then there are people, like me, whom life had pushed and pushed until they broke. Not to mention psycho and sociopaths. How could someone that is born bad be sent to hell simply because his head is malfunctioning?

Hence, I have always believed that either there was an afterlife for everyone, or no afterlife at all. Death is supposed the be final spirit level, good or bad, rich or poor the destination has to be the same.

Instead I got this cheap excuse of reincarnation screwing with me.

What purpose being reborn could possibly have if I retain all of my memories?

Whatever body or planet I would end up in, I would still carry my baggage, so once outside the light all my pain, rage and contempt toward humankind would prevent me to learn whatever lesson I am supposed to learn!"

Inside that otherworldly space, he had the clarity to see that his psychologist was only half right. He could only change if he wanted to, but because of all his past experiences he had no will to.

It was a perfect example of a catch-22 paradox.

Suddenly, he was pulled downwards and away from the light.

His vision was a blur, but he could still hear a lot of commotion around him.

Giant hands were holding him still while he was puking god knows what, and judging from the breeze on his buttcheeks he was naked.

"I don't know what the heck is going on" He thought "but I bet I am in deep sh*t again."

When Derek was finally able to see again, he discovered that the hands were not gigantic, the issue was him being very small. A baby, to be precise.

*"He is alive! I did it! I managed to save your boy's life."*

A further inspection revealed that said hands belonged to some gibberish rambling old hag. Derek was currently inside a wooden shack, surrounded by people dressed with rags that could be called clothes only if they were part of a 1000 AD themed renaissance fair.

"Man, I hate being always right!"

*"He his alive! I did it! I managed to save your boy's life."* (please, remember that * means words that Derek is not capable of understanding.)

After the midwife triumphantly said those words, the room exploded in cheers and tears of joy. The people in the room were hugging each other and the mother in turns.

Meanwhile, Derek lied limp in the midwife's arms, looking left and right trying to determine how bad was his current situation.

"Well, well. What do we have here? The bedridden woman is clearly this body's mother. She definitely needs a bath." After delivery, the sheets were stained with blood, urine and feces.

"The crying, rough looking man should be the father. I wonder if he is crying for my sake or just because he was afraid of losing his wife. I bet the second one. Then I have a bigger brother and a sister. This is bad."

Suddenly another woman entered the bedroom bringing with her a little boy and a girl that raced to the bedridden woman.

"Oh dammit! This is even worse that I thought. So far I have only two possible choices. Option one, grow into this large family, fighting every day for the few available resources. Malnourishment is most definitely a given. Then, when I am old enough, starting to work with father and brothers, getting married, having children, etcetera. Option two, wait until I am tall enough to grab sharp objects, put me out of my misery and take another spin hoping for a better outcome. I think I'll go with option number two."

Meanwhile the room had become silent. The midwife had already finished cleaning the newborn, wrapped him up in a clean cloth. During all this time Derek neither moved or cried.

*"Nana, what's wrong with the baby? Why is he not crying? It never happened before!"* The mother was worried, and ignoring the pain was trying to get up.

*"Shush, child, and don't you dare to move. I still have to heal you."* The midwife tone did not leave space for reply. *"I delivered dozens of children, a silent one is rare but nothing special. Do you want to see how strong he is? There you go!"*

She unwrapped him from the cloth, and while holding him gently gave a little spanking, to force him to cry.

Derek grunted a little, while staring at her in dismay.

"Want to play rough, old hag?" He thought. "Fine! You just triggered my trap card! Twin Flood, activate!" And out of the blue he relieved both his bowels and bladder.

The backdoor attackers splattered all over her feet, while the front door flood struck her on the face and chest.

Derek started giggling loudly.

*"Well, this wasn't exactly what I was expecting, but as you can hear for yourself, this little imp is breathing just fine."* The midwife handed the baby to another woman to clean him.

Derek kept giggling, proud of his work. After washing her face with warm water and a cloth, the old hag moved her left index finger drawing a circle in the air, striking it through in the middle from right to left. Then she pronounced a single word.

"Ekidu!"

A black energy manifested on her fingertip. She proceeded to point it over her wet dress and then over her shoes. The smell of feces and urine suddenly disappeared and so did their source.

With his mouth agape in shock, Derek watched as his poop would dry and crumble, turning into dust. It was akin to watching one of those fast-forwarded videos where in one minute you could see a seed becoming a flower.

"Heisenberg's beard! She is not just an old midwife! She is a real magician, in the flash! I have never been so happy in my whole three lives of being so dead wrong!"

Derek was ecstatic, and not only because that world had magic, but also because as soon as he heard the word Ekidu, he had felt something clicking inside of him.

Like if something deep inside of him had started taking root, and suddenly had become engrained in the very fabric of his new reality.

He started repeating obsessively the magic word in his mind, and trying to engrave in his memory every detail of the circular finger movement.

*"Now that I'm clean let me stop that bleeding, dear."* The healer approached the mother and placed her hands above her nether regions.

"Is it time for another magic? Show me, please!" Derek begged in his mind.

Nana first spreaded he fingers wide then started to move both arms in a circular motion, first up over her head, then opened her arms as much as she could before joining her hands, palm against backhand, at her navel's height.

"Vinire Lakhat!"

Derek, all wrapped up, tried to mimic all her movements, step after step, memorizing every single detail he could grasp, no matter how small.

A sphere of light enveloped Derek's mother lower body and she quickly recovered her complexion. The pale skin reverted to a healthy pink, while all the traces of pain and fatigue disappeared from her face.

Once again, something clicked inside him. After the dark magic, he could clearly feel that simply by hearing the power word, a connection had been established between him and light magic. Derek could not stop grinning.

"If, and I say if I have enough magical talent, it would mean there is actually a third hidden option." He thought. "I can become a magician and live free for the first time in my life! No shackles, no responsibilities! But it's better not get over enthusiast. With my luck I could just have a poor talent or…"

His reasoning was abruptly interrupted, the woman that had held him until that moment was handing him to his mother.

*"Nana, are you sure he is all right? He has yet to cry, and giggle or not he is too quiet. With all that happened, I am really afraid that something is wrong with him."*

After those words, the noisy room turned gloomy. Afraid that he was somewhat responsible, and quite eager to explore option number three, Derek did his best baby impression, giggling, smiling and doing raspberry sounds.

Nana felt her professional pride hurt by such allegations, but it wasn't her first time with an anxious mother.

She knew Elina since she was still a child, and had delivered all her babies. Nana could not deny that this delivery had been one of the most difficult of her career.

The labour had lasted hours and she had been forced to cast healing spells multiple times to stop the bleeding. When she finally could see the baby's head, she knew something was wrong.

Elina was fighting with all her strength but the baby was limp. So, she had rushed and used her hands to pull out the baby as fast as possible, only to discover that he was being strangled by his own umbilical cord.

After cutting and removing it, she had tried all her best spells, but to no avail. For a whole terrible minute, Nana had believed the child was lost.

But then the healing light had finally activated, forcing the baby to puke, clearing his airway. Then and only then Nana started affording the luxury of relaxing.

Healing magic was no miracle. It could enhance the life force of the patient making easier to recover from an illness or healing from an injury but it could not create life.

Nana was sensitive, so she understood that Elina didn't need a lesson about magic, just be reassured about her child's health.

*"Worry not, my child. I can prove it to you that all is well."*

With a warm smile, she caressed Elina's cheek and took Derek from her arms, removing the cloth like she was revealing a treasure.

Nana carefully adjusted Derek in the crook of her left arm, then she circled her open right hand all around him and said:

"Vinire Rad Tu!"

A small wisp of light came out of her palm, dancing around the baby before penetrating his chest.

The light spreaded from head to toe, making him emit a dim light.

*"See? If there was even a scratch on his body my injury detecting spell would leave that area bleak. Your little sun is fine."*

The energy flowing through his body was making Derek feel empowered. In his old life he had felt like that only few times.

When he got his degrees, when he finally abandoned his parent's home, when he beat up the bullies. But all those times it had been a fleeting emotion, lasting few seconds at best.

Now it was different, it wasn't just adrenaline. Real magic, real power was coursing through every fiber of his being, making him feel invincible.

So, when the spell started fading off, he could not accept that.

"No! Come back to me! Give me my power back!" Derek screamed inwardly.

He focused on the last strands of energy, willing for them to stay. He could not cast the spell on his own, but he could still feel the lingering power and started feeding it with his own.

Derek's light stopped dimming and instead grew stronger and stronger.

Nana was dumbfounded. She had never seen anything like that before. That was not how the spell was supposed to work.

Derek wanted it to last forever, but a second later he fell asleep due to mana exhaustion, and the light disappeared quickly.

Nana wrapped up the baby again and returned him to his mother's embrace.

"Nana, what was that?" Elina asked full of wonder.

The old healer had no idea how to answer. Many possibilities popped up in her head, and all of them would require long explanations that would needlessly make Elina worry and maybe even forcing Nana to repeat the spell.

Had been a long day, and she had no intention on prolonging it even a second more than necessary, so she borrowed a line from her childhood's favourite fairy tale.

*"My child, I think the new-born may be blessed by the light. There is no need to worry, only to rejoice."*

Derek's first days as a baby were peaceful but far from boring. He had no responsibilities, all he to do was eat, sleep, poop and the occasional baby noise or finger grabbing routine.

That left him with all the time he needed to think about his future.

On Earth it was no mystery that kids had a greater potential for learning than adults, and since his family seemed human, or at least human-like he could hope for that to be true also in this dimension.

From what he could see, his body was no different from a baby from planet Earth. He could hear his heartbeat, his chest inflating and deflating while breathing.

Even the reproductive apparatus was the same.

The same could be said for his new family. If it wasn't for the existence of magic, he would have simply thought to have travelled through time, but things clearly weren't that simple.

Derek quickly dismissed all the "what race am I now?" hypothesis as overthinking.

One of the advantages of being a baby was that ignorance was perfectly fine, when the time came, someone would teach him.

He determined that he had two priorities: number one, learn their language. All babies are supposed to learn their native language, and he had only so much time before being considered a retard, so he could not slack off.

Number two, he had somehow to figure out magic, or at least its foundations. And that also had a deadline, since his learning potential was at its peak only until his brain stopped growing.

After that, he would not be different from anyone else with the same talent and disposition for magic.

So, he set magic as his first priority. Being considered a slow learner was much better than being weak for life and forced to take another spin at reincarnation.

Derek spent his first day in the new world in bed, together with his mother, while his father would sleep and rest in the boys' room.

Whenever someone talked to him, he paid close attention, trying to figure out common words or patterns.

The rest of the time he was not eating or the cloth diaper being changed, he would try to cast one of the three spells he knew: Ekidu, Vinire Lakhat and Vinire Rad Tu.

Every attempt was a failure, he could not feel even an iota of power inside himself. Comparing what he saw from what he knew from Earth's Dungeons & Looting, those spells had clearly a verbal and somatic component.

But that couldn't be all, or at least he hoped so, otherwise until he was able to talk all his efforts would have been wasted.

Failure after failure, his anxiety grew stronger. Fear of the unknown and of tomorrow started to build up. Also getting used to poop and wet himself wasn't a pleasant feeling either.

Thankfully, his mother showered him up with nothing but love and affection, making his day not a total loss. Despite his bias about mothers due to his previous life, Elina managed to make him feel loved and protected. That wasn't half bad at all.

The final outcome of his first day was zero progress in magic, no progress with language. But his mother seemed to be a good parent, and he finally learned his new name: Lith.

The second day turned his world upside down.

Elina, showing the strength of a wild ox, decided she was sick of resting and got up to help doing the daily chores.

Lith had the opportunity to see her full figure. Despite giving birth the previous day, she was a good-looking woman, in her early twenties. She was definitely well endowed in all the right places, with a fit body honed through hard work. Her shoulder blades long hair was of a beautiful light-brown colour, with shades of red all over it

Just the light of the candle made it look like there were flames dancing within. "Seeing mother with her hair down in a sunny day must be quite a sight to behold." Derek thought

Maybe it was because Lith was still a baby, maybe because of the mother-son bonding, but Lith felt deeply proud of her.

He also discovered that she seemed to not use bra or underpants.

Once finished dressing, she wrapped up Lith, making impossible for him to move. Then Elina placed him into her sash, using it like a baby cradle so that she could easily hold him with only one arm with minimum exertion.

She walked out the small bedroom and found her older daughter, Eliza messing with the fireplace.

*"What in the Great Mother's name do you think you're doing, Lily? The sun is not even out, you should be sleeping. You know you are not allowed to mess with fire!"*

She said with a hiss, trying to not wake up the house.

*"I'm sorry, mom. I just wanted to make you all a surprise. Let you wake up in an already warm house and breakfast ready."* Eliza's face showed only sincere concern.

*"There is no need to worry, silly bee. Your mommy is a pro with kids."* Elina said while ruffling her hair.

Eliza, together with her twin brother, was the eldest child. She was eight years old, and her blonde hair with shades of black was the reason for her moniker.

Elina shooed her away from the fireplace and with a flick of a finger lighted the fire.

"Infiro!"

"Thanks heavens!" Lith rejoiced. "Once again I had that weird feeling when discovering a new type of magic. This proves I wasn't just imagining stuff!"

Elina sent Lily opening the windows' shutters to let the dawn light in while she prepared breakfast.

Elina took several vegetables out of a cabined and proceeded chopping them with a knife. Some had a familiar look to Lith, like some semi potatoes and odd coloured carrots. The others were all a mystery.

The idea of having such breakfast made Lith almost cry. In his past life he never liked vegetables, they were all bland tasting. No matter how much of them he ate, within half an hour he would be hungry again.

Elina shoved everything inside a small copper cauldron and with the help of a hook hanged it on a metal bar over the fire.

Then with a finger-snap she conjured water out of nowhere, filling the cauldron.

Both Lith and Eliza were ecstatic, even though for completely different reasons.

For Lith it meant hope. Spells could be casted without words or precise hand's movements, and that showed him that there was a real chance for him to practice magic while still being baby.

For Eliza was a reason for pride. Magic was common, but every time Elina casted a silent spell it was like watching a real magician at work.

*"You are so amazing, mom!"* Eliza's eyes were full of admiration. *"Will I ever be as good as you with magic?"*

*"Of course you will, silly bee."* Elina replied with a kind smile, while inwardly adding: "After ten plus years of chores, every single day."

After a while, everyone woke up to have breakfast together. The family consisted of Raaz (father), Elina, two daughters (Eliza and Tista) and two sons (Orpal and Trion).

Lith could then establish with depressing certainty that there was no such a thing as an indoor bathroom.

From what he could see the house consisted of a big room used as dining room, kitchen and pantry with three doors that lead to the various bedrooms and nothing else.

The breakfast was relatively quiet, so he had no problems learning the word for water magic when his father filled some jugs.

"Jorun!"

After everyone left for their daily routine, Elina moved along with Lith to a rocking chair. During the morning he had to pleasure to discover that in the new world the daily chores like washing the dishes or cleaning the floors were all performed using magic.

From her rocking chair, Elina would simply twirl her index and medium finger while reciting "Brezza!" to generate up to three small whirlwinds that she would move all around the house to collect and get rid of the dust.

Whenever someone would dirty the floor with earth or mud, a flick of the wrist and a "Magna!" would send them back through the same door they were brought in.

Lith was delighted discovering how common the use of magic was. Everyone in the family, even the younger ones, would use magic to make their life easier.

When bedtime arrived, Lith was dying to try some magic. He had waited so long for his hands and feet to be finally free.

Elina fell asleep almost instantly, yet Lith was impatient enough to have the impression of having waited for hours.

After a full day of thinking, he had decided to try only air magic first until he was confident enough in his magic control abilities.

Fire was just too dangerous for a novice, while water and light would easily wake up his mother. He could not spot any dirt to control in the dim light of the room, and was too afraid to mess up with darkness magic until he got a better understanding of it.

So, he twirled his little arm and said: "Eaa." Nothing happened.

Lith tried and failed countless times before giving up. He did not know how long his baby body would have lasted until falling asleep, so he stopped despairing and started thinking.

Magic was common, whenever he heard for the first time an elemental magic word, something inside him had clicked, like creating a connection with the elemental energy.

Those were all good news, but he still couldn't make head or tails why he was always failing. He never expected succeeding at the first try, but he had thought that something would have manifested.

A random tiny gust of wind, a magic spark, anything would do.

So, he started thinking back to when the healer had filled him with power. That feeling was not new to him, but he never experienced it so intense.

Lith searched his memory until he found the answer. It was the same sensation that he had when he started practicing aikido, while learning the basic breathing technique.

"Well, I have nothing to lose. Let's give it a try."

Lith breathed in through his diaphragm, the anus relaxed, to get the world energy in.

Then he would contract the anus, holding the breath for some seconds to let the energy settle in before breathing out relaxing his whole body.

Back on Earth, he had always thought that the intoxicating feeling he experienced during his first days of practice was just some kind of placebo effect.

His naïve young mind deluding itself that the weak could miraculously become strong just believing and practicing in all that Ki/internal energy nonsense.

But what if he later stopped experiencing that sensation only because his native world energy was just too thin?

After some time, Lith started to feel a tingle all around his body, and then the energy seemed to move and condense inside his solar plexus.

The more he performed the breathing technique, more clearly he could sense the energy getting more stable.

In his old videogames, mana was always blue. So, he visualized a blue sphere settling in inside his solar plexus.

After a while, Lith felt brimming with power. After holding his breath one last time, he twirled his little arm before commanding: "Eaaa!"

The wind generated barely tweaked his mother's hair, while he had aimed for the blanket.

Yet he could not stop grinning.

"This is really a great start!"

In the following weeks, Lith's days consisted of a strict routine.

During the day, when he was all wrapped up, he would only focus on practicing the breathing technique and learning as much as he could about his family and their language.

At night he would practice magic until exhaustion made him fall asleep. Then as soon as he woke up, he would start again until Elina would get up for the day.

More than once he tried taking a break, but it would never last long. Living as a baby was not easy, on the contrary, was very stressful.

He could not speak, even the words he had already understood to not scare his family. He could not move, he could do nothing but watch, sleep, eat and relieve his bowels.

He was not used to be so helpless and dependant on someone else for every little thing. Too much free time would bring him to the verge of insanity.

So, he would practice and practice, trying to adjust to his new reality without overthinking about how absurd and irrational was his situation.

As Lith's powers increased, so did his control, and after a few weeks he felt confident enough to try earth magic and water magic.

He would always be careful, never conjuring more than a few droplets of water or manipulating a handful of dirt. He discovered that it was possible to make the elements float in mid-air, changing their shape and size by continuously spending mana.

After that, he shifted his night training on focus and control rather than power. His mana was very limited and he much preferred doing few elaborate tricks perfectly rather than a lot of stuff at the risk of blowing his cover.

No matter how common magic was, Lith doubted that a baby practicing it would be any less than shocking, or even terrifying.

Lith was afraid of being abandoned by his family, or even worse killed.

He was once again scared of death, since now he had too much to lose. What where the odds to find another world where magic existed, to be born as a baby in a loving family?

Zero, none, nada, squat.

He had to play his cards well, and play them as close to the vest as possible. Before revealing even a hint of his talent, he needed to know what the standards of that world where.

How much talent was considered good, how much divided being considered a genius from being labeled as a monster?

His mind was constantly filled with worries and only training would alleviate his anxiety.

After three months, he had become good enough at silent magic to try fire magic on the fireplace.

The fire was already lit, and when everyone was busy talking and eating during breakfast, he tried making the flames dance at will. It ended up in failure, since the flames were too strong and the distance too big for his mana to have any effect.

Yet he kept trying, since he could still sense the flow of magic going from himself to the fireplace, hence making it a good training to expand his mana sense and range.

The only downside of all that training was that Lith would get hungry faster. Luckily, he was not Elina's first glutton and she had no shortage of milk.

Another month passed, and Elina started weaning him.

This event was meaningful for two reasons. The first was Lith noticing that food wasn't abundant in his household, so even if he still had not a rich vocabulary, he could still read his parents worried expressions every time he needed to be fed.

Despite still being a cold hearted, cynical misanthrope at his core, Lith could not help but feel guilty about it.

They loved him like a child, while he would consider them nothing more than hosts, like a parasite. The only exceptions were Elina and Eliza, his big sister, the only one that along with his mother would take care of him.

With their constant love, affection and care had managed to crack his emotional defensive wall. The more time he spent with them, the more he would consider them part of his real family, not just people that he was leading by the nose.

So, he started limiting his training to not exceed the amount of food they could afford.

Even that required quite a few tries to find the right amount, since too little would cause even more worry than too much.

The second reason were world changing discoveries.

Being forced to stop training magic as much as possible, Lith now had free time that he used to dedicate that time by practicing the breathing technique, that he christened "Accumulation".

That way, his inner energy, that he had long dubbed as "mana core", grew faster to the point of hitting a bottleneck.

Apparently, his body wasn't big or strong enough or both, to hold and indefinite amount of mana. Lith never noticed before because his baby body was rapidly growing, and he had only so much time to expand the mana core.

So, without realizing it, his body and mana core had developed together.

But now the balance had been broken, and practicing Accumulation would make every fiber of his body ache, so he was forced to stop.

Luckyly he was still well fed and developing fast, so despite not being able doing any physical exercise, the bottlenecks would not last long.

The second discovery was the result of him being forced not to practice magic or use Accumulation.

While studying his bottleneck status, he found out that it was possible to modify the breathing technique by removing the breath holding step. That way, the world energy would just flow in and out his body, energizing him like a good night sleep.

Lith named this new technique "Invigoration."

After several tries, he discovered that the world's mana could allow him to stay awake for several days, but not indefinitely.

Each time he would use Invigoration, the energizing effect would last less and less, and only sleeping would reset its effectiveness.

But the most important discovery, as almost always happens, was made by chance.

After adjusting his food intake, Lith's greatest enemy had become the hunger. Not the slight appetite that can be fixed by a candy bar or the hankering after a busy morning.

It was the kind of hunger that never goes away, always lurking, even right after a meal. Even though Lith was not starving, it was something that he had never experienced.

Even among all the misfortunes of his first life, food had never been an issue. He had always been able to eat to his heart content, even allowing himself to be picky about food.

But now he was so hungry that he ate until the last bite, and if his body had allowed him to, he would not hesitate licking the plate clean.

In the good days, when the portions were larger, it was like white noise, annoying but easily ignored. But during the bad days, either because the rations were smaller or because he had lost himself in the practice of magic consuming too much mana, it would become a thorn in his head. He would be so hungry to have a headache all day long, often feeling light headed and incapable of focusing. Food would be the only thing he would think or dream about.

Of course, he was not the only hungry one in the family. Aside from Elina, only his siblings Orpal and Eliza would be tasked to feed him.

And while Eliza had a big heart and strived to be like her mother, Orpal was angrier and hungrier by the day. He would often daydream about the days when he and his twin were the only children in the house.

Now not only he had to fight each day for his parents' attention, but also for the food, clothes and so on.

Once he had a room only for himself, then he had to share it with Trion. It was just a matter of time before Lith would come to take away what little personal space he still had.

Orpal could not understand why a family as poor as his own would keep making kids.

It was winter, so there was not much work to do. Hence there weren't many occasions to restock their food supplies, and they had to last until spring.

It was the toughest time of the year for all the farmers' families, since the food was meant not only for men but also for the animals.

Orpal was sick of seeing Lith gobbling all the food, to the point of dubbing him "Leech".

So, whenever it was his turn to feed the little vermin, he would take some spoonful for himself. But Lith was not easily bullied.

As soon as he noticed the spoon was not aimed to him, he would start to cry madly, and Elina would run to his side, foiling Orpal's plan.

Lith never cried, unless he needed to be fed or changed, and that made their parents both really happy and paranoid about him. Since he would never cry wolf, they took every wail very seriously.

That day was a really bad day for Lith, starving because of his growth spurt, and was Orpal's turn to take care of him.

Both their parents were out, one of the cows seemed to suffer from frostbite.

So Orpal took the plate full of creamy soup for the baby, and gulped down a full spoonful.

Lith immediately started to cry, but there was no one to hear him.

"Cry all you want, *Leech*." Lith was now able to understand most of the common words, included Orpal's mockery. "Today is just you and I. No mom in a shining armour to come to your rescue." After saying that he gulped down another one.

Lith felt like he was going crazy. Once again, he was helpless, his so called magic useless in time of need. What could he possibly do, aside from blowing his cover?

Ventilate him? Wet him? Using fire was too dangerous, a single meal was not worthy burning down a house.

Lith's hunger was eating him, and his rage went above and beyond what he would have ever thought possible.

"You fu**er!" He yelled inwardly. "Feeling so tough robbing a child?"

Then he saw the third spoonful, making a good half of his meal gone, moving toward Orpal's smug face.

Lith's anger reached a new peak, his hatred burning like a fire.

"You are not my brother!" He yelled inwardly. "You are nothing but a filthy thief, trash!" And then, more than clicking, he felt something breaking inside like a dam that could not hold the raging waters anymore.

"I HOPE YOU CHOKE ON THAT SPOON, YOU SH*T!" Lith waved his arm against Orpal in a final struggle, and then it happened.

Lith felt the mana going out to his body, reaching the spoon already in Orpal's mouth, and pushing it down, hard.

Orpal started to choke, and after removing the spoon from his throat he started puking.

Lith was so astonished to almost forget about both his rage and hunger.

He had discovered something wonderful, a power that no one else in his family seemed to have.

Lith had discovered spirit magic!

At that time, Elina and Raaz (father) were coming back to the house Upon hearing Lith's desperate cries they ran back to check on him.

When they found Orpal on the ground, puking, they understood what had happened. They already had suspicions, since whenever Orpal fed Lith, he was always hungrier than usual.

But now they had proof. Inside the pool of vomit, the undigested creamy soup was as clear as the day.

Raaz became red with anger. *"You little…!"* But had to stop, his other children had returned as well. "I am very *disappointed* in you, Orpal." Said Elina, seeing that her hubby was too angry to speak.

*"From now on, Elina will be the one feeding Lith. You can take all her shifts in the stable, since I don't think that even you could eat hay."*

"But mom…" Orpal said trying to defend himself. He hated cows and their smell.

*"No buts, young man!"* Raaz yelled. *"And that is not punishment enough! Elina, feel free to prepare one more bowl for Lith, and take the food from Orpal's share! He must learn that bad actions have consequences!"*

They were speaking too fast for Lith, and there were too many unknown words. But Orpal had just turned pale, so it had to be good news.

Orpal started crying and apologizing, but Lith made sure to cry louder, so Raaz and Elina both ignored his pleas and sent him to take care of the animals.

After being fed with a generous serving of soup and milk, Lith could finally focus on what had happened. After days of trial and error experiments, he had grasped the basics of his newfound ability and gained a much deeper understanding of magic.

Lith had discovered that when he casted an elemental spell, it actually consisted in a three-step process. First, he would emit the mana, then he had to mix it with the world energy that he was trying to manipulate. The last step was the hardest one, controlling the spell and its effects.

Spirit magic skipped the second step, it used only his own power, without borrowing elemental energy. That made it more difficult that any magic he had practiced so far and more mana consuming.

It also required much more focus compared to normal magic. Pure mana had no physical form, so he could not rely on his eyes for manipulating its effects.

All depended on his willpower and imagination. The clearer was the mental image of the action he wanted the mana to make, the better the result.

The range was also very limited, barely reaching a meter (3,28 feet) radius.

Despite all it's strict limitations, Lith started to practice anything but spirit magic. The ultimate discovery about it, was that every improvement he did in spirit magic was also passed on all other kinds of magic.

He didn't need to switch practicing between them anymore, and so he progressed in leap and bounds compared to before.

From time to time, he would use a random elemental magic to check on his progress, reaching a new understanding of the profoundness of that element.

The progress Lith made allowed him to also improve his breathing techniques.

Through Accumulation, he could now not only perceive how his mana core changed in size with practice, but also have a rough understanding of the amount of mana contained in his body.

Using Accumulation he would feed the world energy to his mana core, allowing it to expand from the size of a pinhead to that of a glass marble.

Once the mana core grew to marble size, further progress could only be made when the physical body forcefully compressed the mana core back to pinhead.

Lith had no idea how the phenomenon worked, and had found no way around it. Mana core and body development had to go hand in hand, there was no shortcut.

Bottlenecks happened when Lith tried to use Accumulation when the mana core was still at its peak size. The world energy would be rejected by the mana core, going wild through his body and damaging it.

By continuously undergoing expansion and compression cycles, his mana capacity was already incomparable to when he was just a new born.

After discovering and practicing spirit magic, Lith had a much finer control of his mana, inside and outside his body.

He managed to modify the Invigoration technique, so that when he breathed in the world mana, he would combine it with his own, temporarily exceeding his limits

Then he would expand the resulting energy, moving it from the solar plexus outwards, until even his body hair would be overflowing with mana.

Ever since he invented Invigoration, he had noticed qualitative changes to his body. Lith was now better at withstanding cold and head, and he would hardly ever get sick.

When his whole family would catch a cold, he would either get over it before the symptoms manifested or recover in a few days.

"Unless it's all a crazy coincidence, improving Invigoration is the only mean at my disposal to temper my body. If I am right, this means that I can use it as a crutch until I get big enough to do physical activity." He thought.

"Hopefully, it should also help me overcome my bottleneck periods faster. It's a gamble, but it shouldn't do any harm. Also, between hunger and bottlenecks, there isn't much I can do as a seven months old baby."

As for his family life, it also experienced some changes during the following months.

After the soup incident with Orpal, a divide opened between the brothers. Lith was vengeful by nature, and so was his brother.

Sometimes, when Orpal was angry, would call him Leech instead of Lith, since he always called him like that in his mind.

Every slip of the tongue would cost him a serious scolding, and when he did it while harshly arguing with his parents, even a good spanking.

Orpal blamed Lith for all of his misfortunes, the little runt always giggled when he was having a hard time.

The relationship between Lith and his parents, instead, kept getting better and better.

He had already started saying babble words, making sure to say "Mama" when Elina embraced him and "Dada" whenever Raaz came near him.

"If this world is even a bit similar to Earth's middle age, is better to stay in my old man's good book until I am self-sufficient." This was Lith's reasoning.

He was still very afraid of father figures, and the two of them didn't had much a relationship anyway. Raaz would always be busy with something, letting his wife and eldest daughter spend the most time with the baby.

To his defence, he had just wrongly assumed that Lith was too little to notice, and that they would have time catch up later in the future, like he did with his other sons.

Raaz really loved him, and Lith never ceased to amaze him. He couldn't remember him crying for no reason, not even when teething.

If someone bumped into his cradle or raised his voice while Lith was asleep, or at least pretending to, he would not make a sound, just look around before going back to sleep.

Lith increasingly grew fond of Eliza, it was more like a loving aunt than a sister to him. He could see himself in her, taking care of her little brother like he did with Carl.

He would have loved to express this love, but all he could do was smile and laugh as soon as he saw her, and call her "Lala". She was in fact the only one, beside his parents, to have a babble name.

It wasn't much, but it meant the world to her.

And so, time went by. After six months from his arrival, Lith was put on the ground for the fist time and started to crawl under strict supervision. At the ninth month he started to walk and graduated himself from babble words to real ones.

On the day of his birthday, after discovering they had birthdays in that world too, he allowed himself to use simple phrases and started to make questions to complete his vocabulary.

Knowing nothing about babies, it was very stressful finding the right timing for every little thing. Luckyly, Lith could always resort on cheating to find out the proper time for him to "learn" to do something. He was already capable of understanding most of what he could hear, so he would always be open to "suggestions".

If Elina was dying for him to finally say "Mommy" instead of "Mama", he would wait a couple of days before making it happen. If Raaz cheered for Lith running to him, he did.

The real problem was paying attention to everything Raaz, Eliza and Elina said while being seemingly completely oblivious about their words.

Another problem was that once they let him roam free in the dining room, they gave him also small wooden toys expecting him to play and explore his surroundings.

Lith already knew the dining room as the bac of his hand, and there was not much to see in the first place. Yet he had to pretend to be curious about it.

That was the hardest thing he had ever done since becoming a baby, and scared him to death. He had no clue how a child would explore such bland environment, and his paranoia about blowing his cover made him sweating bullets.

Seeing the expectation in their eyes, he started from the nearest thing, the fireplace. The fire was not lit, the logs were cold and covered in ashes.

When he got closer, Raaz stopped him.

"This is the fireplace. Now is safe, but fire is bad. Fire hurts. No touching it, never."

Lith looked at him, seemingly confused, before trying to put his hand in the ashes. Raaz grabbed his hand, blocking him.

"Fire is bad. No touching it. Never." His father repeated.

Lith stared in his eyes like he was deeply in thought, before asking: "Fire bad?"

"Yes, very bad." Raaz replied while nodding.

"Okay." Lith moved away from the fireplace and got close to the table. When he tried climbing up a chair, almost falling down with it, Elina ran to his rescue.

"Good gods, this little one sure likes danger." Seeing their increasingly worried expressions, Lith believed to have found a way out that torment.

He would keep putting himself in danger, trying to climb on the table and going into the kitchen rummaging through pots and knives.

Quickly they decided that adventure time was over. They made him sit on an old cloth spreaded over the wooden floor, and gave him toys to play with while they recovered from the stress.

He had a little wooden horse, some kind of cart, and an odd-looking dog thingy. Playing was much easier to him. Lith did not need to create stories or explaining what he was doing.

He could just use playtime to practice spirit magic. Lith would actually never use his hands to move the toys, making them float as close as possible to his fingers.

He really enjoyed those moments. Lith could finally openly rejoice, scream and laugh anytime he made a new discovery or a breakthrough, and all his parents would see was a happy child lost in his fantasies.

"Who would have ever thought that such a quiet little fellow could have such a vivid imagination." Raaz said with a big, proud smile on his face. "Look at him. All he has is just some old toys, yet it looks like he has the whole world in the palm of his hand."

The following years weren't easy on Lith.

He was finally allowed to do a lot of questions, filling most of the holes in his vocabulary and starting to finally learn about his family and the new world.

He learnt that they were living in the village of Lutia, that was part of the county of Lustria, which in turn was part of the Griffon Kingdom.

His parents knew about the neighbouring countries by name, but that was it. They knew nothing about the life outside the village, nor they cared about it.

In their eyes the king was some sort of mythical beast, they put all their faith and worries in Count Lutia. Not only he administered justice and taxes in the county, he would also always take part in Lutia's spring festival as the guest of honour.

His parents never mentioned to their children anything about magic, wars or history. They only told them tales that could be easily dismissed as bedtime stories even in this new world.

All of their stories were filled with beautiful princesses, valiant heroes and villainous tyrants.

Lith was truly dissatisfied by such little information. He wanted to know what was the planet's name, what was the stage of scientific development it had developed.

He wanted to learn about the history of magic, the lore, the legends, anything that could give him at least a clue about what to expect from life.

But it was clear they knew little more than gossip, so he could not make questions he was not even supposed to think about.

At least his family tree was much easier to fully understand. Elina and Raaz had married very early, even by village standards, barely sixteen.

Raaz, being an only child, had inherited his father's farm, where they were currently living. Elina got pregnant shortly after the marriage, giving birth to the twins Eliza and Orpal.

Then she got pregnant again every two years. Thant meant that Raaz and Elina were currently 25 years old, Eliza and Orpal 8 years old, Trion 6 years old, Tista 4 years old and finally Lith 2 years old.

In fact, most of the information were leeched from his siblings' questions, Lith was mostly limited to a "What's this? Why is that?" kind of question.

Spending more and more time with the rest of the family, he also discovered why despite his father owned such a nice farm, with its own barn and henhouse, had so much problems putting food on the table.

Tista was born with a congenital condition that prevented her from doing any physical exertion and made her also prone to illness.

Fast pacing was enough to leave her out of breath. She would chough from time to time, and when things were about to turn for the worse, the cough would become violent.

At that point one of her parents would have to run to the village to let Nana visit and heal her. But she could not really cure her, only alleviate the symptoms and return her to her natural state.

And while a check-up wasn't expensive, the treatment was. Also, even if Raaz did go picking her up and then brought Nana back home, it would still cost an extra.

Doing a round trip meant her losing business, so she required compensation.

It was the constant need for the healer to put such a strain on their budget.

Lith felt very sorry for her. Despite not having spent much time with Tista, she was precious for both Elina and Eliza, and that was more than enough to make her precious for him too.

He felt helpless, cursing his inability to ever practice light and darkness magic. Light magic required a patient, and until he had gained a solid grasp of how it worked and what was this world's human anatomy, he would not dare putting anyone's health at risk.

Darkness magic was another story. Lith had only seen it once, no one in his family used it. And even in that one occasion, he had clearly felt the destructive power it held.

He was also biased against it, since on Earth dark magic would always be associated with evil practices and undeads, so he had no desire to dabble with something potentially horrifying.

Lith could only live on, hoping to eventually get some training in magic, while enduring the madness that he was getting used to call family life.

He had to be lively, but not too much. He had to be curious, but not too much. He had to run around but never get out of the door.

His parents were never satisfied. If he tried to sit in corner meditating, they would worry because he was too quiet or too lazy. If he tried to move around or help them, he would be scolded for getting in the way.

They refused to teach him chore magic (that was the name of the lesser spells they used on their daily life), and prohibited him to learn them.

Lith could not go outside without being accompanied by someone, could not get near to the fireplace, could not make too many questions.

Everything was basically prohibited until he "grew up".

More than once Lith wanted to scream "I may be biologically young, but I am actually the oldest in here, dammit!" but all he could do was suck it up and obey.

His feud with Orpal never resolved, and he could clearly feel Trion's hostility on his brother's behalf. Clearly Orpal was for Trion what Eliza was for Lith, his role model.

Unlike Orpal, Trion would not completely ignore him, even when their parents were absent. But Lith could clearly see that every time his brother helped him, it was just to be polite. There was no kindness between them.

Lith quickly started ignoring him in return. "I have already spent half of my old life being worried about dysfunctional family members. Been there, done that. So thank you, but no thank you. If you want to be a jerk, be my guest. I don't give a damn about you." These were his thoughts about the matter, so he let things fester.

Once he became three years old, he could not take it anymore. The boredom caused by the cold winter months where he was basically stuck at home 24/7, aggravated by the constant hunger was about to drive him insane.

It was a stormy afternoon, and the family was gathered around the fireplace. Elina was teaching her daughters how to sew. Raaz was teaching Orpal how to carve wood, while Trion and Lith were only allowed to watch. They were still too little to handle any sharp object, even sewing was off limits.

Lith had already asked, baffling his father and flattering her mother. "You are too little, and your hands are still too clumsy." She replied.

And Elina was right, Lith's body felt even clumsier than his old one, before he started practicing martial arts. Just the thought of all the lost muscle memory was enough to make him cry.

So, he patiently waited that Raaz finished instructing Orpal, and then Lith mustered all his courage and asked him to teach him how to read, write and count.

Raaz was flabbergasted. "You are too young! Usually kids wait until they are six years old to go to school and learn. Don't you think is boring?" That was the philosophy every man in his lineage had always uphold.

"Boring? What could possibly be more boring than sit here doing nothing? Like yesterday and the day before. And probably tomorrow too! Please daddy, try me! I beg you, please, please, please!"

Raaz didn't know how to say no. Lith had never asked him anything before.

"Even when he is clearly still hungry, if he notices there is no more food, he never asks for more." He thought "Unlike Orpal. I don't know if is Lith that is too good, or I am just spoiling Orpal too much."

He really wanted a way out, but Elina was already staring at him. Her hands never stopped sewing, her mouth explaining the girls what they were doing wrong, but her eyes were clearly set on him.

"Dammit, what can I say? Learning does not even require dangerous tools… That's it! The tools! I'm such a moron sometimes."

Raaz looked in Lith's puppy eyes, his heart squeezed as in a vice, but he still replied: "I'm sorry son, we have nothing you could possibly write on. So, I can't teach you."

Lith had considered things through before asking, so he had already a solution at hand. He picked the biggest tray they had, and filled it with the ashes collected in a bucket beside the fireplace.

"Now we do! We can write as much as we want!" Raaz was amazed by Lith's ingenuity, and so was Elina. He was about to object again when he noticed that the stare had turned into a frown. Her hands were moving too fast, and that meant trouble for him.

There was a storm outside, he could not run away from the one that was brewing inside. So with a deep sigh, he gave up.

"From what do you want to start?" Raaz could only hope that Lith would get bored fast and let him return to his leisure.

"Count!" Lith promptly replied. So Raaz sit on the floor beside him and started drawing lines in the ash. Lith was ecstatic.

The numbers they used had a different shape from the Arabic numerals, but aside from that they were identical in use, even the calculation methods were the same.

So, he kept the new numbers in the upper row to learn their shape, and then started doing the multiplication tables. He could actually do such simple math in his head, but he needed to engrave the new numbers in both his mind and body.

Once he finished, Lith started taking requests from his audience, and when Orpal sarcastically asked "How much is 124 times 11?" he quickly replied with flat "1364" leaving them all speechless.

Elina could not help herself standing up and lifting Lith up in a big hug.

"My little genius! I'm so proud of you!" In less than one hour he had mastered what it would take others a full year to do. Eliza and Tista soon joined her in the embrace, congratulating their little brother, while the male side of the family was still flabbergasted.

In rural areas they learned how to count only to not get ripped off when they sold or bought merchandise. So, they remembered only addition and subtraction, letting the useless multiplications and divisions fade away in their minds.

Reading and writing required more time, but it was equally simple. Lith already knew most of the words and how to spell them. He only needed to learn the alphabet and memorize it, to be able to read and write.

Once again his family was stunned, and the only one not rejoicing with them was Orpal, left alone with his envy and scorn.

Having officially learned how read and write, Lith practiced every day. While his family considered him a genius, he knew better. Needing to practice hard to memorize just twenty-one letters and ten numbers, Lith did not feel much brilliant.

Striking the iron while it was still hot, he asked Raaz to carve for him a wooden ruler, 50 centimetres (19,7 inches) long and 3 centimetres (1,2 inches) both high and wide.

In the front he had engraved all the alphabet, on the back the numbers. It was Lith's clutch during his homework, a tool necessary for him to be free of practicing anytime without bothering his parents.

Raz was still on cloud nine, so he didn't make any question about the oddly big sizes Lith requested. He could have easily made it much thinner and shorter, making it easier to carry around. But Lith refused the proposal, begging him to fulfil his wish.

Lith had not missed Orpal's hostile glare every time someone called him a genius. He had to be sure for it to be not easy to break or go missing by "accident".

It was also the perfect pretext to always carry around something he could practice spirit magic on.

When the weather finally cleared up, Elina decided that it was the perfect moment for Tista to be checked out by Nana. With all the cold and wind during those last days, no matter how much effort Raaz and Orpal had put in the house's maintenance, it had still been kinda drafty.

Tista had been coughing enough for Elina being seriously worried about her. So, she took the mule cart and brought Tista and Lith to the village of Lutia.

The bad weather had lasted too long, and the accumulated farm work needed everyone's help to be finished before another frost wave arrived.

She had to bring Lith along, he was too small to be left alone. After stuffing them with the warmer clothes they had, the trip began.

Lith was really happy, it was the first time for him seeing the world outside the farm's bounds. There was much he could learn from such experience.

On the road they were bothered more than once by stray graaths. They were wasp like insects with a venomous sting at the end of their abdomen. Compared to Earth's wasps they were much hairier, and blue instead of yellow.

"Why in the Great Mother's name are they still around?" Elina complained. "They are supposed to be asleep during winter!"

One graath was particularly stubborn and despite all their shooing, it kept going back until it got too close to Tista for comfort.

Lith slammed his hands hard, missing it entirely. He was still nimble as a brick, but his spirit magic wasn't.

It had already reached a radius of full ten meters (32,8 feet) radius of effect, so the graath was squashed effortlessly.

Lith showed the prey with pride. "Don't worry big sister, I'll always protect you." After hugging him, Tista was really curious about the dead insect, but Elina was still worried by the venom, so after throwing it away, they resumed their trip.

When they came in sight of Lutia, much of Lith's doubts got cleared up. It wasn't just his family, the whole village resembled closely one of those early middle ages drawings he had seen in history books.

There was no sign of any complex technology, even a windmill or a watermill would have been considered a marvel of science.

When Lith asked Elina about the village, she explained that only artisans, scholars and merchants lived there, the rest of the population lived in their own farms tending the fields and raising livestock.

Lutia consisted in a few dozens of one or two stories high wooden houses well-spaced between them. Not even one was made out of stone or bricks.

There was also no road pavement of any sorts. The space between the houses was just like the road to the village, bare earth and mud.

From the signs hanged outside the buildings, he could spot a blacksmith, a tavern and a tailor shop.

The bakery didn't need any sign or advertisement, the delicious smell that came out its chimney was enough to make every passerby's mouth watery.

Lith's hunger stroke so hard that he already knew what he would have dreamed about that night.

When they arrived at Nana's house, Lith was surprised noticing it was bigger than their own, yet Elina had told him more than once that Nana lived alone.

In his eyes it meant that either she was from a rich family, or more likely healing was a lucrative business. Lith decided that he had to master light magic as soon as possible.

The door was open, and inside Lith felt the familiar feeling of a doctor's waiting room. Inside there was a single huge room that smelled of medicinal herbs and incense.

At the end of the room, on the left there was a door, probably leading to Nana's living quarter. On the right there was a huge wide curtain, behind which Nana was visiting and treating the patients.

The rest of the space was filled with benches and chairs, and many of them were already occupied.

It seemed that many families had decide to make use of the good weather. Elina removed all the extra clothing from her children before instructing them to be quiet and don't disturb others.

The waiting room was filled with bored mothers, and soon Elina joined the chatting, sharing her experiences and advices with them.

Lith could wander around undisturbed, the women were too busy keeping their children under control to take notice of his existence.

The room was bare and uninteresting, but once he got close to the curtain he stumbled on a treasure. He found a small open cabinet, filled with books about magic.

"Maybe in this world is the equivalent of a doctor hanging his degrees and masters." Many of the titles were specific about an element or its application, but one caught his eye immediately.

It had "The basics of magic" written on the cover. After checking that no one was paying him attention, he grabbed it and started reading.

"I'm only three years old. I can afford a better to ask forgiveness than permission attitude." Lith then moved to a corner, giving his back to the curtain hoping to go unnoticed as long as possible.

It was clearly a book for beginners, so he skipped the introduction going straight for the elements' description.

Lith discovered that water magic was not just about conjuring and manipulating water, it also allowed the user to lower anything's temperature. Any magic apprentice was supposed to be able to generate ice, and use it as a mean of both offence and defence.

Air magic too had an ability that he had never taken in consideration. Air magic highest peak was weather control, but even at the basic level a mage could generate lightning.

Fire and earth were just plain and simple as he had pictured them all along, so he moved to the last two elements.

While reading, it became clear to him that because of magic, whoever had written the book had no idea what anatomy was.

The book would speak about the importance of keeping a wound clean, there was no use of terms like disinfection or sepsis, so he barely found unknown medical terms.

Lith remained dumbfounded upon discovering that light and darkness were explained together instead that in separate chapters.

According to the book, both elements were the bread and butter of any healer. Darkness magic could be used as a weapon, but it was not explained in detail.

The author was very clear stressing out the fact that he was not a fighter, and that beginners should never bite more than they could chew.

Then he proceeded to explain that darkness magic wasn't either good or bad, just an element like the others. It was an invaluable tool for a healer, since it allowed to clean wounds, tools or even to fumigate houses from rats and insects to avoid the spreading of diseases.

Also, it was the only way of getting rid of parasites that had grown inside the patient, since light magic would allow the healer to detect their presence, but could do no harm to them.

Light and darkness worked best when used together. Light magic specialty was the ability to perceive life forces and scan them for anomalies. It also allowed to correct such anomalies and to guarantee an instant recovery from most diseases.

Restoring broken bones was more difficult, and was explained in another chapter.

Lith felt incredibly ignorant and stupid. He could have discovered most of those elemental properties on his own, if he hadn't been blinded by his narrow-minded superstition.

"How could I possibly have been so idiotic? I have lived here more than three years and I am still thinking like this is a video game with fixed rules and levels?!? Darkness is evil and light is holy or something? No, this is science, dammit, the same one I studied all my life. If fire magic is converting mana into heat, then water magic is nothing but converting mana into cold, condensing the water in the atmosphere and turning it into the liquid state. It's all so obvious, it's like the damned Culumbus' egg!"

He was about to turn the page and learn about healing broken bones when a firm hand squeezed his shoulder, locking him into place.

"That's not a toy, young man. I really hope that you have not damaged it, otherwise your family will have pay for it dearly."

Lith had been so engrossed reading to forget where he was, throwing caution to the wind. When Nana caught him red handed, he was startled enough to yelp.

"I thought I knew every single rascal, but I fail to recognize this one. What's your name, kid?"

"Lith. What's yours?" He replied while making puppy eyes. Nana was now more curious than angry.

"Lith? Do you mean Elina's little imp? No wonder your face is new to me, you were just a new born the last time I saw you."

Nana's presence had made the chatter stop. Some women wanted to ask her how long until their turn, others were just curious, Elina jumped out from her chair apologizing on Lith's behalf.

"There's no need to apologize, Elina." Nana said. "No harm, no foul. The little imp has not damaged the book while playing with it."

"Yes mom, there is no need to apologize." Lith hated when someone spoke of him like he wasn't there. "And I was not playing with it, I was just reading."

"Reading? Young man, how old are you? Three years and something? If this is a joke, it's not funny. I never expected one of Elina's children to be such a liar."

"He is not lying. During the last storm, Lith was bored, so he asked his father to teach him how to read, write and count. Here is proof." Elina handed Nana the wooden ruler.

Elina's rebuttal had caught her by surprise, she realized to have struck a nerve. After studying the ruler, Nana had to admit it was a clever learning tool.

"Tell your husband that this thing is really a good idea. He could sell it to teacher Hawell. It never hurts to have extra money."

Elina wouldn't let her change the subject, not until she apologized for calling her son a liar.

"Raaz didn't invent it. Lith did, so he could study alone without bothering anyone."

Nana was shaken by all those sudden revelations. Her pride wanted to avoid apologizing, but insinuating that Elina too was lying in front of all those people would have hurt her whole family's reputation.

"So, young man, how much is seven times six?"

"Forty-two."

Nana took the book from Lith's hands, and after opening a random page, she gave it back.

"What is written there? Start from the top of the page."

Lith suppressed a smirk. "The first thing to understand while studying magic is that it's just a tool. Anyone can use it, but only few can actually use it properly. In fact…"

"Okay, that's enough. I owe you an apology Lith." Yet she said it while looking at Elina. "Seems your son is indeed blessed by the light, dear."

The room was once again resounding with chatter, but this time they were all discussing the same topic.

"What does Nana mean with blessed by the light? Isn't that just a fairy tale?"

"I wish my son was that smart. Every morning just sending him to school is a war of attrition. Not to mention getting some actual results!"

Those were the most common comments.

Lith kept hitting the iron while it was still hot.

"Can I…" Suddenly he realized that he ignored the word borrow. "take it with me for some time? I will return it as it is. I promise."

"And what would you do with it? Can you already use magic?" Nana's reply would have normally been quite different, but she had had enough surprises for the day and could not afford anymore sarcasm or scepticism.

"Yes, I can." Lith replied before realizing his mistake.

"I'm an idiot! I just blew my cover! Years of careful planning, ruined by this big mouth of mine. The only thing I can do is damage control."

"Really? And what can you do?"

"Yes, Lith. What can you do?" Elina rebuked. Her right foot was furiously tapping the floor in annoyance, Lith knew he was in trouble.

"I can do wind and water chore magic." He said with a low apologetic tone, while staring at his own shoes.

"I'm sorry, mom, I know you prohibited me to use any magic. But everyone else in the house always uses it, and I was so bored."

The chattering increased in volume. Elina was really angry, but she could not scold him in public. Not when they were staring at them with admiration.

"Nana seems really impressed. Maybe this is a turning point in Lith's life. If she takes him as her apprentice, we could have a healer in our family. I can't ruin this opportunity."

So, she kept silent, wondering about his son's future.

"Would you please show me?" Nana asked, smiling for the first time.

"In for a penny, in for a pound. Here goes everything." Lith thought.

"Brezza!"

Lith twirled his middle and index finger two times, creating as many tiny whirlwinds that he used to quickly sweep the room. He pretended to lose control from time to time. His goal was to impress, not to brag or scare people out of their wits.

"Oh! Oh! Oh!" Nana laughed in admiration. she could see more and more of her in the little imp. Nana too had been a precocious brat. When she was his age her talent was better, but Lith was still a sight to behold.

Usually men were less talented for magic, since women with their prerogative to give birth, were naturally more in tune with the life force of the planet. Some called that world energy, others simply called it mana.

Also, country boys were usually blockheads, more inclined to hard works in the fields or in the military rather than spend years on books.

"Now I want you to do a thing for me. You said you can conjure water, right?"

Lith nodded in response.

"Now call upon water, it does not matter how little. But then, you have to not let it fall. You must make it float, like this." A perfect sphere of water the size of a fist appeared half a meter from Nana's open hand.

Lith could not comprehend the why of such a specific request, but he complied.

"Jorun!" He conjured less than a glass worth of water, keeping its form irregular and instable. Lith could not afford any more mistakes, his focus peaked trying to make his lack of control convincing.

The water floated for three seconds before falling off. But instead of hitting the floor it started floating again, becoming another perfect sphere orbiting around Nana's spell like the Moon does around the Earth.

Lith was flabbergasted. Not by Nana's control on the mana flow, he was already able of doing the same, if not better.

He could not avert the eyes from the spectacle in front of him. Both spheres of water were constantly spinning on themselves, reflecting everything around them. They would capture the light from the sun, turning it into sparkles of rainbow.

Lith had always seen magic like a force to be reckoned with, a great tool to build his future with. But he never thought of it as beautiful.

For the first time in over three years he was not pretending anymore. He was simply amazed, staring at the dancing lights while the memories of his old life flooded his mind.

He suddenly remembered all the hours that he spent as kid, hiding in the planetarium together with his little brother Carl. They would dream of becoming astronauts, to run away to the stars where no one would ever hurt them again.

And just like that his grief returned, stronger than ever, fighting the joy out. The pain for the loss overwhelmed him, tears started streaming from his eyes.

"Lith, are you all right?" Elina voice woke him up from his stupor.

Realizing how weak he had allowed himself to be, Lith felt deeply disgusted.

"Water is just water, no need to get soft over a measly light show. Soldier up and follow the plan." Lith steeled himself sealing away all the feelings that he deemed useless. "I'm done getting hurt." He thought.

"Yes, mommy, I am alright. I was just moved from the old lady's magic."

"My name is Nerea, Lith. But everyone calls me Nana."

"Why Nana?" Nana was usually a term of endearment used for the family's grandmother.

"You see, when I was still was a young maiden, everyone called me by my name. But then time passed, and I helped so many children come into this world that they started to call me Mama. After even more time passed, those children had children of their own, and they started to call me Nana." She ruffled Lith's hair.

"I have a proposal for you. Now you are too little, but when you become six years old, instead of going to school together with those blockheads, you could come here instead. So, you could read those books as much as you want. And maybe you could learn a trade. Mine."

Lith tilted his head, playing dumb.

"I don't know, you don't seem nice. I would like the books, though." He replied while hiding behind his mother, only half his face visible behind her legs.

Elina didn't know if to laugh or cry. Her dream had come true but Lith didn't understand what he was turning down.

"Please, excuse him, Nana. He is just three years old, he has no idea what he is saying. He doesn't even know the importance of apprenticeship."

"Three years old." Nana repeated. "It's almost too good to be true. But you are right, if he had to choose between gold and toys, he would probably pick the latter.

We'll have this conversation again three years from now." She knelt down, looking Lith straight in the eyes.

"If you don't become dumb as all the other boys in this village, I'll take you as my apprentice. If you are still interested in magic and books, of course."

Lith nodded, grabbing his mother gown, looking for protection.

His weak and scared appearance hid his inner rage.

"Three years? I could have as well starved by then! And all because of you, greedy hag." He was so sick of being hungry, he wanted to bite her out of frustration.

"Calm down, Derek, and remember all of your lessons. Suck it up and grow stronger, because only strength will make you free. Only power will keep your family safe."

Nana's work ethic didn't allow for favouritism of any kind. Lith may have been his future apprentice, but Tista had to wait for her turn like everyone else.

Lith hadn't been so happy of being stuck in the queue since his student's days in college, when he would use every single second to review his weakest subjects.

"So much to read and so little time. Better to cram light and dark magic since they are the only elements outside the physics as I know it. In the best-case scenario, it will take years to get my hands on a book again, and there is only so much I can learn as self-taught."

When it came their turn, he studied carefully how the healer performed the light magic Vinire Rad Tu.

It was the same life force detecting spell she had used on him three years ago, and this time he had a better understanding of magic and a way better standpoint.

Being next to her, Lith could appreciate every gesture and hand movement Nana used to amplify the spell effectiveness. The light enveloped Tista's body, quickly turning grey around her chest, clearly outlining the shape of her lungs.

"I have good news, and I have bad news. The good news is that Tista's condition is the same as always, there is no sign of degeneration this time. The bad news is that it doesn't seem to be improving either. I'm afraid that she will remain like this forever. The more she grows, the lesser the chances that her body will be able to somehow fix itself."

The air in the room turned heavy, a lifetime of illness was barely better than no life at all.

Lith was so shocked to completely forget about the books. The whole world meant nothing to him if he could not share it with the only three people he loved and trusted.

They came out of Nana's house in low spirits, returning home without speaking a word.

Once arrived, Elina shared the bad news, searching for Raaz arms before starting to cry. One by one, the whole family burst into tears, hugging each other in search of comfort.

Lith allowed himself to cry, cursing the cruel fate that had befallen his sister.

"What good is magic if I keep being helpless? Why do I keep reincarnating, simply to replace one living hell with another? Is this just bad luck or is it my fault? Could it be that in some previous life I committed such an atrocious act that now all those I love are cursed? Could this be my punishment?"

During the following days Lith kept second guessing every life choice he made, before accepting the fact that bad things happens. Tista was already ill when he resurrected for the second time, it couldn't be his fault.

Having been accepted as Nana's apprentice, he could now practice magic openly. Soon he proved capable of cleaning the whole house by himself, relieving his mother and sisters from all the chores.

Thanks to darkness magic, cleaning dishes and cauldrons became a matter of minutes. Nothing organic, be it food residue or grease could escape being turned into dust by a single spark of dark energy.

He also made countless experiments with light magic, in search for a cure. Yet all he managed to do was keeping the symptoms at bay. Tista now needed much less treatments from Nana, but was still prisoner in her own body.

This caused Orpal to hate him more and more.

"Show off! How I am supposed to enjoy my life with him constantly breathing on my neck? Not only Leech shares the housework with mom, but also spends so much time with Tista. Mom and dad always praised him for his so-called talent and intelligence. And now they never shut up about Leech saving the family a lot of money, by tending Tista's condition on his own. No one gives a damn about me wasting my time and sweat doing all the farm work! Gods, why did you let him live? Why you didn't give me any talent?"

Oblivious of his brother's feelings, Lith was not coping much better. His magic power and comprehension of mana kept growing, but it could not erase the perpetual taste of failure that accompanied him.

In the following year he could not feel any joy regarding magic, every discovery was useless, all his power meaningless.

And so, he was finally four years old. The period between four and six years in Lutia was called "the golden age" since the child was big enough to have some freedom and too little to be of any help in the daily activities.

They would be allowed to play all day without a care in the world. It was the perfect time to make friends and grow closer to one's own neighbours and deepen the ties between the families.

The day of his fourth birthday, after he finished the chores, Eliza introduced him to all their neighbours before returning home.

He was supposed to socialize and play, but Lith had other plans. There was no amount of failures or grieve that could make him forget for long the hunger that consumed him since he was barely five months old.

Raaz's farm was on the western edge of Lutia's farmlands, a little less than a kilometre (0.62 miles) apart from the great woods known as Trawn.

Despite the pretentious name it wasn't particularly dangerous. The people who lived in nearby villages depended on the forest as their primary source of timber for their everyday life.

Trawn was also abundant in wildlife, so those bold and lucky enough would go hunting all year around, searching for precious meat, warm fur or both.

It was impossible to meet monsters in the forest, unless one went several kilometres deep. Since there was no need for exploring Trawn in detail, the inner areas were still uncharted territory.

There was a reason if Lith had never practiced martial arts in the new world, not even the footwork. The constant practice of magic required a lot of energy, and his household lacked the necessary resources for his training.

Lith was already skinnier than all of his siblings, any more exertion and he would turn in a pile of bones. He needed food.

But being a city boy, he knew nothing about butchering, he needed a teacher. And that was why he was headed for the house of Selia Fastarrow, the only hunter among their neighbours.

"The problem is that I have no idea how to get her to help. I'm still too little for apprenticeship, and even if I wasn't, it's unlikely she had not heard about Nana's offer. She has nothing to gain helping me. I can only hope she is a kind and benevolent woman."

Selia's house was a single-story wooden house, much smaller than Lith's, about sixty square meters large. There was no henhouse or barn. Except for the space in near proximity of the house, the fields were uncultivated, full of weeds, tall grass and whatever the wind hand planted over time.

"She clearly has no interest in farming and stockbreeding, and that's good news. Means her business is good enough. I wonder what's in the shed near the house. It's almost as big as the house itself."

Lith knocked, his innards tied in a knot from the nervousness. The door opened almost immediately.

"You again? Are you lost or something?" Selia was a woman in her early thirties, 1.7 meters tall, the skin tanned from the years long exposure to the sun. Her black hair was kept short with a haircut identical to Earth's military standards.

She could have been considered very cute, but the small bosom coupled with her sharp eyes and rough attitude made her manlier than most farmers.

She wore a leather hunting jacket over a green shirt, green cargo pants and brown hunting boots with a soft outer sole to limit the noise made while moving.

"Hi miss Fastarrow, I need a favour. Could you please teach me how to skin and gut animals?"

Selia raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because I am hungry." Not having any lever on her, Lith had decided that truth was the best policy. "I have been hungry long enough to forget how being full feels. I know I can hunt, but I also know that without proper handling meat goes bad and is inedible."

"No, you got me wrong. I mean why should I help you? What's in for me?" Now she was knitting her eyebrows.

"What do you want?" Lith asked while bottling up the urge to kill her slow and painfully. He was hungry enough to see her as quarry.

"Honestly, I don't believe a runt that barely reaches my belt can hunt anything, not even a rat. And since teaching is a waste of time, it demands compensation."

She scratched her chin searching for a deal bad enough to drive the pest away. She never wanted a child of her own, let alone dealing with someone else's.

"So, if you want to learn from me, first you must bring here some game. If you mess up while playing butcher, you'll ruin my merchandise, wasting my goods and time. So here is my deal, whatever you bring me, I'll teach you how to skin and gut it. But half of it is mine for the trouble. Take it or leave it."

"So much for the kind and benevolent woman, this is plain extortion." Lith thought.

"I'll take it. How long will you stay home?" He replied.

"I'll be here all day, I have a lot of work to do. Why?"

"Because when I get back with my prey, I'll need your help. Don't forget our deal."

Lith turned around, moving toward the woods. Seeing the little runt act all tough, without a bow, traps or even just a bag for the game, Selia could not help but laugh out loud. That until the door suddenly slammed on her face, sending her butt first on the floor. After getting up, she went to the nearest window.

Lith was still in the same spot, but his face was turned towards her door, his eyes glowing bright in the dim light of the dawn.

After getting at the edge of the woods he activated the light spell Life Vision. It was one of his creations from the last year of practice. By infusing his eyes with light magic, Lith was able to see living beings as coloured, while the rest of the world was turned into shades of grey. The stronger the lifeforce, the bigger and brighter was the light emitted. This way he could easily spot animals, even if they were hiding underground, in bushes or inside a tree.

Lith did not need to hunt something big, as long as it was meat it was the perfect prey.

Most of the animals would run away as soon he came too close, but not all of them. Birds and squirrels perched on tree branches felt safe. But Lith's spirit magic had reached a range of over twenty meters (21.9 yards), they were all within his reach.

He only needed to extend his open hand towards the quarry, then squeeze and turn it for a neck to be broken. In less than twenty minutes he had killed 2 odd feathered birds and two squirrels.

"I could catch more, but I want to pay that harpy as little as possible."

While returning to the huntress' house, his greed was debating fiercely with his rage.

"Dammit! I wish I could just ask my father. Our farm has a henhouse, we eat chicken, so he must know how to butcher it. But if I do, then I will be forced to share MY quarry in equal parts. And if there is something that I hate more than being robbed by that harpy is the idea of Orpal and Trion having the same amount of meat as me. Or worse, even more, being older. I hunted this game! This meat is mine, MINE! They will only be allowed to eat my scraps when and if I want so!"

When Lith got to the door he had calmed down, the rage hidden by his business face. He took deep breaths before knocking again.

When Selia saw him, was on the verge of mocking him, calling him a quitter for giving up in less than an hour. But then Lith showed her his game, making her whole "Never underestimate how hard a hunter's job is" speech die in her throat.

"How did you do it?" Selia asked, still recovering from the surprise.

"Magic. I am blessed by the light. Didn't you hear the news?" Selia started rummaging her brain, until the answer made sense.

"Ohh! I get it now. You are the magic kid that's on everybody's mouth in Lutia. That's explains a lot, including your shitty attitude."

"Excuse me? You found a scrawny kid on your door, asking for help. And what you did was send him away with a rip-off deal, even laughing at his efforts, and I am the one with a shitty attitude?" Lith was now so angry that even the idea of sharing his prey did not seem so bad anymore.

Selia laughed out loud. "Kid, you really are funny in the head. First, when you come at the door of a stranger asking for help, the best you can hope for is to be sent away with a polite kick in the butt. If I had to comply with every madman's request, I would be broke in a jiffy. Second, you had the guts to slam the door at me and then come back like nothing happened. That's a shitty attitude."

Listening to her point of view, Lith could only agree. For four years he had been a recluse, his only interactions with the family members. He had got too used getting a yes as an answer, forgetting the basic social interaction rules and even common sense.

His hunger didn't help either, making him single minded and prone to anger. Lith realized that Selia was right, and what he did that morning was just a temper tantrum.

"I'm really sorry." He said earnestly, looking her in the eyes. "I have no excuses from my behaviour. I would understand if you wanted to call off our deal."

Selia started laughing even harder.

"Hold your horses, kid. I said that you are crazy and rude, and I like that. As you so kindly pointed out, I'm a bit of jerk myself. And dog does not eat dog, our deal is still valid."

She handed him a small knife with a wooden handle.

"Rule number one, bleed out the game as soon as possible. If the blood starts clotting, the meat is ruined. Make a deep incision in the neck and then hang them upside down, to make the blood drain out." She pointed him to a clothesline.

"When you don't need the fur, I always cut off the head directly, makes things faster."

Lith put down the knife and conjured water, making it coat his whole hand. Then he froze it, turning it into a razor-sharp blade, cutting off the birds' head, using the knife only for the squirrels.

Selia whistled with approval.

"Nice trick. You don't shy away from blood, don't you?"

"As I have told you before, I am hungry. Too hungry to care about big round eyes or a warm fur, I only see them as food."

Selia gave him thumbs up. "That's the right attitude for a hunter!"

Then she took the animals and hanged them, thinking the clothesline was too high for Lith to reach. Lith did not feel the need to correct her.

"Since we are building a master-apprentice relationship and all that cr*p, mind you telling why come to me instead of your father or mother? I don't know your family, but this is something that any farmer knows how to do. It would be too expensive having someone else butcher your livestock."

"Indeed." Lith concurred pondering how to answer. He looked her straight in the eyes before asking. "Juts between us, master-apprentice secret and all that cr*p?"

Selia nodded, surprised receiving an actual answer instead of a cranky remark.

"As far as I can remember, me and my brothers never had a good relationship. Things are pretty bad, especially with my older brother."

Lith decided that he needed to take that load off his chest. Talking to a stranger was the best way to relieve his stress and ruin Orpal reputation. Truth was indeed the best policy.

"I do not know if it's because of my magic, but I always ate a lot. That would not be a big deal if I hadn't four siblings, one of which has a congenital condition. Her treatments cost quite a lot, and that is barely necessary to keep her house ridden."

"Thank the Gods I'm an only child. But what does that have to do with your older brother?" Lith pretended to not have heard her.

"This means that despite my parents' hard work, we don't have much food on the table." Lith pointed at his thin arm, to make her feel guilt. "And my brother is a growing boy too, so he would like to have much more chow than he actually has.

From time to time, especially during winter, he had fits of rage, where he would accuse me of everything that goes wrong in his life. He often said things like:

Why the heck did you have so many children if you cannot properly feed them? Why does he have to get almost as much as food as me? He does nothing, while I work my ass in the fields all year around! This is not my brother, this is a Leech that is sucking my life away! I wish you died that cursed day!" Lith did his best Orpal impression.

"Are you making this up to make me feel guilty, kid? Because that's sick." Selia was knitting her eyebrows, doubting someone could say such things to his little brother.

Lith shook his head, sighing.

"I wish."

"Did your father give him a good beating? Maybe that could help him come to his senses."

Lith shook his head again. "No. This started when I was still very little, and even when my father resorted to spanking, it only made thing worse. To the point that I now sleep in the girl's room."

Selia bit her lips, to avoid making a sex joke. "Too soon."

"Too soon for what?"

"Nothing. Please continue."

"That was until a year ago. Then I started practicing magic, and soon I was skilled enough to do almost all house chores by myself. Sometimes I help with the livestock too. I even managed to keep my sister's condition under control." Lith took a deep breath before finding the strength to add "Most of the times."

"Then everything should be good now, right?"

"Wrong. The house needs repairs, and so does the barn and most of the working tools. If you also take in consideration all the random sh*t that happens and takes priority, I don't see our situation getting any better soon, and neither does my brother.

Now he can't put the blame on me anymore, so the last time he took it out on my ill sister, saying things that I refuse to repeat out loud." Lith spat on the ground to get rid of the dirty taste the memory gave him.

"To the point of saying that it would be better for her to…" Lith pointed at the hanged game.

"To put her down like an animal? Kid, we may be jerks, but your brother is a lunatic."

Lith gritted his teeth, remembering Orpal's exact words.

"It would be much better for her, for all of us! She can't run, she can't work. Tista will never be able to make friends, fall in love or have children of her own. She is bound to be a burden for the family. And what will happen when you guys are no more? Who will take care of her? Eliza? Or maybe the little Leech wonder?"

Lith could still vividly recall his mother crying from those cruel words. Eliza and Tista running into her arms. Raaz beating Orpal so hard he could not walk for days.

"Indeed." He replied to Selia with a growl. "And that's is why I despise him and don't want him to touch a single bite of MY game."

"I get it. I don't even know him and already hate that guy's guts too."

"No, I don't hate him." Lith corrected her "Hate, just like love, is an irrational feeling, while my contempt for him has sound foundations."

"Wow! Such profound notion for someone so young. Worthy of a hunter!

Now enough chit chat, it's time to get to work."

Selia took down the squirrels, passing one to Lith.

"We will start with the little critters. They are smaller and better for practice, since even if you mess up is no big deal, there is not much meat in here."

She placed a squirrel on a cutting board, and prepared another for Lith.

"What I am going to teach you stands for most rodents, but just in case, if you ever find a rabbit that still has a snow-white fur, bring it to me. It is valuable only until it starts turning brown for the spring. Even a tiny mistake can ruin the fur, lowering its value."

Selia handed him the short knife again. "If you want me to teach you properly, let's do things my way. Use the knife, do as I do and follow my instructions."

Lith nodded in approval.

"On the squirrel's back pinch its hide and cut it near the base of the neck so to expose at least half of it. Now use your index finger and middle finger on both hands to create an opening after you have made the cut. Use your fingers to hook up under the skin and pull one hand towards the rear and the other hand towards its head..."

During the process, Lith noticed that beside being disgusting, skinning a squirrel was like taking off a sticky wet glove.

After that Selia showed him how to remove the head, the legs and the tail.

"I know is a bummer, but that bushy tail is no fur, is all goddamn body hair. You can still use it to stuff things, is very warm and soft. Now comes the tricky part.

When we proceed to gut anything, be careful while making incisions. If you cut open the bladder or the intestines, the meat is ruined by bile or feces. There is no saving it. This stands for all the animals, so pay attention, kid."

Gutting the squirrel was bloody and gruesome, but Lith could already smell the meat at the end of the tunnel, so he barely felt any discomfort.

When they finished, Selia put both squirrels on a skewer, to roast them in her fireplace.

"While we wait for our morning snack, I'll show you how to scald a bird for the plucking. As the name implies, water must not be too hot or cold, just enough for you to immerse a finger without getting a burn, but unable to hold the finger in for more than a second without burning yourself. That's proper scalding temperature."

Selia took a big cauldron, positioning it over a campfire she had always ready on the back of her house.

"It can be a messy job, so it's better to do it outside whenever is possible."

The smell of the meat cooking inside was making Lith's mouth watery, he could not afford the risk of them burning.

"Jorun!" At his command the cauldron became immediately filled with water.

Lith then stuck his hand in the water casting "Infiro!" making it emit steam.

Selia whistled again with approval.

"Fast and efficient. I'm starting to regret this master-apprentice stuff less and less.

I now understand why that old hag of Nerea called dibs on you. We should be ready to go, but first…"

Selia went inside briefly, returning with two little plates of roasted squirrel.

Before she could even pass him his plate, Lith had already snatched the food, wolfing it down like there was no tomorrow. He sucked and gnawed until only bones were left.

After licking every single of his fingers, he returned to his previous calm and composed demeanour.

"Good gods, such a gentleman." Selia's voice was oozing sarcasm. "Would you like another serving? Because that seriously creeped me out and I know a thing or two about…"

Her mockery fell on deaf ears. Lith's eyes could only see the second squirrel closing in. As soon as Selia pretended to offer him her share, his hands were already moving.

After devouring the last squirrel, Lith noticed that Selia was frozen in place.

Her mouth was open but no words were coming out of it, the plate still near his face.

He gently put the bones back into the plate.

"There was no need to hold the plate for me, but thanks. That was very kind of you."

After resolving the morning snack incident, Selia prepared the working table for the remaining game.

"The birds you caught are called blinkers, because they get scared easily and are very quick to fly away. Usually you need luck and skill to take them down from a distance. Whatever magic you performed, it made a clean kill. Aside from the broken neck, both the feathers and the body are unscathed."

Lith accepted the compliment with a small bowing.

"It's just a matter of finesse in using air magic, nothing special."

Selia's curiosity was far from being satisfied, but she decided not to pry further.

"Scalding is easy and quick. You only need to throw the poultry in the cauldron for about 45 seconds. Is better to gently stir the water in the process, to clean the birds from dirt and external parasites. It also helps loosening most of the feathers. Never scald too long, or the meat could start to boil. Not to mention the risk of rupturing the organs, ruining the meat."

Lith took charge of the scalding process, waving his right hand to take control of the water in the cauldron, stirring it and adjusting the force of the current according to Selia's directions.

"Dammit, kid. You are really starting to make me regret to have never given a damn about magic or learning it."

"You don't know how to use magic?" Lith was astonished.

"No, and before today I was proud of it. I consider chore magic a simple parlour trick. Why waste my time learning how to do things with it when I get faster and better results by using my hands?" Selia shrugged. "Now get the blinkers out of the water, time to get serious."

Beside the scalding and the plucking that replaced the skinning process, gutting poultry resulted really similar to his previous experience with the squirrel, except he had also to remove to crop, the neck and the oil gland.

Once they finished, Lith's eyes enjoyed the results, noticing that aside from the blinker's skin being a little more porous compared to a chicken's, it was just a roast away from what he would purchase back on Earth.

"How do I cook it?"

"Still hungry even after two squirrels?"

"Yes, very." The previous meal was just an appetizer, he was far from satisfied. "Please, let's use the outdoor campfire. I need to get used to not using a fireplace."

Selia slammed her hand on her forehead. "Right, right. I almost forgot about your family issues."

After instructing him how to choose the right spot for a campfire, she showed him how to improvise a kebab with wood sticks. The final lesson was about how high to set the kebab to avoid burning the food and how to recognise when it was ready to be eaten.

After memorizing everything, Lith imbued his eyes with fire magic, activating the Fire Vision spell, that granted him an improved version of thermal goggles.

He then started to weave together fire and wind magic, keeping the heat stable with no hot or cold spots, while using air currents to cook every nook and cranny of the meat evenly.

Such fine control required for him to move both his hands and feet, to watch his meal from different angles and adjusting the mana flow.

His movements were akin to a combination of martial arts katas.

Selia was about to mock him about how performing a victory dance for a single blinker was a little extreme, when the delicious smell reached her nose.

The blinker was getting roasted with a speed visible to the naked eye, the skin turning into a crispy crust, releasing the fat that was masterfully spreaded evenly.

The smell was so good that her stomach started grumbling, despite she had consumed her breakfast less than two hours ago.

Lith lifted the skewer with spirit magic and after lowering the temperature to avoid burning himself while eating, he started wolfing down the meat ripping it apart with his bare hands.

First the drumsticks, then the breast and lastly the wings.

It lacked salt, and the meat wasn't as tender as a roasted chicken since they had not let the meat undergo any maturation. Nonetheless it was the best meal Lith had ever had.

"I can't believe it, I cannot feel the hunger anymore." Lith fell to his knees from the happiness, his eyes wet on the verge of shedding tears.

But that moment passed quickly.

"I need more! I can't allow the hunger to cripple me again." Lith looked at the sun, there were still a couple of hours before noon, he had still time for more hunting.

"Master Selia, I need a favour. I need a place to hide my own game, the one I am not willing to share."

"Just call me Selia, hunters do not waste time with honorifics, we are practical people."

She waved her hand dismissing the need for a title.

"As for your request, I don't make favours, only deals. What about this: from tomorrow onwards you will come here every day and clean my house, and maybe from time to time cook something for me with that silly dance of yours.

In exchange, I will keep your personal meat safe and sound, and whenever you cook for me, we will share the meal evenly. Deal?" Selia offered him her hand.

It was still a rip-off, but it was his only option.

"Deal. I have only one rule. I don't do laundry."

In the next days Lith's house resounded with much more laughter and joy than usual. Him bringing game home had raised some questions, but nothing he couldn't explain easily.

The food helped everyone to relax and let go of the stress of the past. Even Lith and Orpal started to smooth over their relationship, limiting the glares and insults to a couple every day.

But more importantly, Lith could finally start practicing martial arts again. His routine was very simple, hunting in the morning, magical training in the afternoon, martial arts at night.

Thanks to the Invigoration breathing technique, Lith was now able to stay up for almost a week before being forced to rest.

He would sneak out of the house as soon his Life Vision spell confirmed that everyone was asleep.

Once outside he would create mud dummies with earth magic to both practice martial techniques and temper his body. His first priority was the footwork.

Maybe it was because he was only four years old, or maybe it was the lack of activity due to the previous constant hunger, but his body was embarrassingly clumsy and lacked coordination.

Whenever someone threw anything at him, even a chestnut from a meter away (3 feet), he would either miss it entirely or dunk it on the floor.

Lith knew that despite his spellcasting was very quick, especially spirit magic, it was not instant. He could not afford to become a sitting duck as soon as someone closed in too much.

Learning magic was powerful, but not omnipotent. What good could possibly do to him being able to topple mountains only to get killed by a random thug that managed to snuck up on him.

Even back on Earth Lith had always thought that considering mind and body as separate entities was dumb. Exercise had always allowed him to relief his stress and relax his mind. Exactly like studying always allowed him to perform at his best, be it at work or martial arts.

Brute strength was just violence, pure intellect just ideas with no substance. Only when mind and body were trained together the body could perform as the mind required.

About a week after Lith had begun training, something happened.

He was alone at night, practicing footwork by circling around the dummies, when he felt that something was wrong.

Pain burst from his mana core and quickly spreaded to his whole body, accompanied by a head-spinning nausea like he had never experienced before.

"What's happening to me?" He screamed inwardly. "This can't be a bottleneck, the last one resolved just yesterday, and no bottleneck ever felt like this."

Soon he started gasping for air, incapable to stand up anymore and writhing in pain.

"I can't die! I don't want to die again, not after enduring so much. I refuse to become some slave in a distant galaxy or an old man waiting for death. I had enough! I refuse to die!"

He used all his willpower to convert every iota of his mana into light magic, fighting off the affliction that was tormenting him, but to no avail.

The pain got worse and worse, his power incapable of keeping up.

When he surrendered, the burning sensation was finally free to rise all the way up to his mouth.

Then he started puking lumps of a black, sticky substance that looked like tar but smelled like something had died and rotted for weeks under the summer heat.

They were the size of a nut, but the strain he felt was akin to have barfed two elephants walking side by side.

The stench was so bad that even in his incapacitated state he found the strength to summon some dark magic to destroy them without leaving traces.

Lith spent the next minutes spitting, drinking, even eating grass to get rid of that revolting taste in his mouth.

When everything returned normal, Lith was too exhausted to practice, so he had to use Invigoration to return his body to peak condition.

As soon as Lith started executing the breathing technique, he discovered that he was now able to sense his mana core with much greater clarity.

While absorbing the world energy with Invigoration, he could feel and manipulate the mana flowing through his blood vessels and his organs to the point of visualize even the residual magic in his hair.

Despite his eyes being closed shut, Lith could see inside his body as he was observing a state-of-the-art full body scan 3D.

Still dizzy, he tried performing the footwork exercise again. Lith's movements were still far from perfect, but he no longer felt like having two left feet.

"It's an amazing improvement considering that until a minute ago my goal was stop tripping on my own feet. I wonder…"

Lith stretched forward his right hand opened, applying spirit magic to the head of the dummies.

"The best I could do before, with so many targets at once, was to squeeze them a little. And now..."

He clenched his fist, faster and harder than ever before.

The dummies' heads popped like balloons.

During the following days, Lith made several discoveries about the changes he had undergone. His body felt lighter than ever, all his physical abilities augmented, all his senses sharper and heightened, compared to before.

There had also been cosmetic changes in his appearance. The moles on his body had visibly shrank, his skin was smoother than after a Spa treatment back on Earth and most of the freckles around his nose and eyes had disappeared.

Lith took note of all these changes, trying to understand what had happened, but he could not care less about beautifying effects. Even with no moles and freckles at all, he would still look like a crude hillbilly.

If his mother had passed anything to him, he was unable to notice. Unlike his sisters, Lith had nothing of her beauty or grace. Elina moved like a ballerina, while he was rough and clumsy enough to feel like a caveman.

Lith had deep set eyes like his father, a high forehead and a nose a little too big to be proportionate to his visage.

He wasn't ugly but not even cute. The best he could give himself was a solid six out of ten. Lith's only hope for improvement was the teenage growth spurt, to get rid of his thin and scrawny build.

Figuring out the changes in the mana core required even more time. Lith understood that his mana had undergone a qualitative change, becoming purer and denser.

This allowed him to cast stronger spells, also reducing the time he needed manipulate elemental and spirit magic, resulting in faster casting speed.

Through Invigorate, he could now spot the presence of that tar-like material scattered all around his body, in his organs, blood vessels and even in the neural pathway.

Whenever he used the Accumulation technique, he could feel the smaller tar-like particles being pulled toward the mana core, while the bigger ones would fragment over time, shrinking in size before actually moving.

Confident in his new strength, Lith started getting deeper in the woods, hunting for bigger preys. He was no longer afraid of predators. Instead of avoiding them, he started looking out for them.

Lith wanted for his family to have enough fur to make a set of warm clothes for everyone. He was sick of being forced to wear so many layers of clothes during winter, that he was unable to walk properly, swinging every step like a penguin.

The problem was that Lith still moved through the forest making a lot of noise, exuding enough killing intent to scare away anything that wasn't stupid or desperate enough to stand in his way.

It was only thanks to the Life Vision spell combined with spirit magic that he was still capable of hunting. The spirit magic range had expanded to over 30 meters (32.8 yards) range, so he could easily kill any animal that tried to escape by climbing trees or by taking flight.

When Lith wasn't able to catch anything, he would shoot down any bird that made the mistake of flying within his scope.

One day, Lith was exploring a new area of the Trawn woods, hoping to find a fur wearing meal, killing two birds with one stone.

While looking at a small mound, his Life vision spotted three lifeforces hiding a few meters underground. They were not strong enough to be predators, but they were big enough to be a perfect lunch.

"If those are rodents or other smart animals, there could be more than one exit. I have no time to waste, I'll force them out!"

After getting on the highest spot of the mound, always keeping both eyes on the prize, he used earth magic.

"Magna!" The ground around him started to shake, making the burrow and the small tunnels collapse. The creatures started panicking, taking the most direct route out.

Lith started running, following their underground movements as close as possible, not letting them get out of the spirit magic range.

From a well-hidden hole near a bush, came out three big fat rabbits, two of them still wearing a snow-white fur.

"Lucky!" Lith screamed while snapping his fingers, forcing the rabbits' neck to a 180° turn.

"I'll keep the brown white one for myself, while I'll trade the other two pelts with Selia for some fur of lesser quality but much more quantity. Today is really my lucky day."

Lith was so used being alone in the woods to always think out loud, to break the feeling of isolation. He hung the rabbits to his belt by the ears and started walking toward Selia's house.

After a few steps, Lith heard an odd sound closing in. He had never heard it before, so he started looking around for its source. Soon he could see two horses in the distance, galloping in his direction.

"F*ck! It seems I have been too loud. Fight or flight?" To answer his own question, he activated Life Vision again. The horses were just horses, while the men were far from impressive.

The one taking point was barely as strong as Selia, while the one behind was even weaker than Raaz, Lith's father.

Lith forced himself hiding a cruel smile. "Well, well. My first encounter with complete strangers in this new world! Are they good people? I bet that humans are humans everywhere. This would mean that they are a**holes! I can't wait to find out!"

Lith stood there, waiting for them to arrive.

The first man was clearly a servant, dressed in a hunter suit made of leather of low quality with a crest on both his chest and shoulders. He was an unshaven middle-aged man, with pitch black short hair, mean and angry eyes sitting on a face worthy of a mugshot.

The one behind him was dressed with a suit of much better quality, probably brand new. He wore the same crest on his chest, but this one seemed to be made of silk and gold embroidered.

He was a kid maybe sixteen years old, with a handsome face and the build of a swimsuit model. The tight-fitting leather emphasised his muscular body moving in tune with his horse.

Lith felt really pissed off, and he knew exactly why.

"I really hope he is as much of a d*ck as he is handsome. Otherwise not only I will be forced to start to believe in prince charming, but I will also die of envy."

"Hey, kid!" The servant had a rude tone of voice. "What was that noise from before?"

Lith put on his best innocent expression, playing wolf in sheep clothes.

"Good day, sir. It was just me hunting. I'm sorry if I scared you." Lith's voice sounded genuinely apologetic. He wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt.

"Where did you get those?" He said ignoring Lith apologies and pointing at the rabbits.

"From a rabbit hole. They are my game." Lith smiled keeping watch on both of them.

"Give them to us, now. They will make a perfect muff for my mother."

The handsome youth had also a beautiful voice.

"If you are really sorry, you should offer us proper compensation. Even a commoner like you should know the basics of decency." He said with a mocking smile.

Lith dropped the act like a live grenade.

"Seriously? Robbing a kid in broad daylight? Don't you have any shame?"

"Kid!" The servant rebuked. "Do you know who are you talking to? He is the son of baron Rath, lord of these lands."

Lith started laughing out loud.

"Please! Trawn woods has no owner, except maybe count Lark. Stop spewing bulls*it just to cover your sorry a*s. And besides do YOU know whom are you talking to? I am the supreme mage!"

"See what happens when you waste your breath on commoners, Korth?" The young noble took up the short bow he carried on his back, nocking an arrow. "They are just too stupid, it's in the nature of things."

He shot the arrow with perfect aim towards Lith's heart.

But Lith was far enough, and had kept many spells ready on his fingertips. With a wave of his hand, a strong gust of wind hit the arrow on the side, making it spin out of control before harmlessly hitting the ground meters away from its intended target.

Despite being flabbergasted, the young noble was able to keep his cool, nocking another arrow while ordering Korth to kill the kid.

Lith raised his left hand, freezing Korth in place with spirit magic, while with the right he took control of the arrow, that slipped away from the youth's fingers before stabbing him in the eye.

The youth fell from his horse, screaming in pain

"To think that I even bothered giving you guys a chance to get out of here alive." Lith sighed shaking his head.

"Wait! If you kill the young lord, you and whoever you love will die! Think about it."

Lith started laughing again. "Really? And how could they ever find out what happened here?" Lith moved his left thumb, and Korth noticed with horror that his right hand was moving against his will, unsheathing the hunting knife he carried at his belt.

"Wait, please! Have mercy! Don't do this, you are just a kid!" He begged.

"So, when you want to kill, you kill. But when you lose, I am supposed to show mercy?" The spite in his voice was palpable. Lith lowered his ring finger, bringing the knife at Korth's throat.

"Since you are just a servant, I'll give you a clean death." With a flicker of the little finger Lith forced Korth to cut his throat from ear to ear.

Then he approached the young noble that was still writhing in pain, uncaring of what just happened to his loyal servant.

"As for you, you are the kind of guy I hate the most!" With one hand Lith kept him frozen at mid-air, while he used the other to punch him nonstop.

"You have f*cking everything! Money, beauty, a bright future, and all you can do with such treasures is screw those who are already struggling to survive?"

Lith hated humans more than everything, even back on Earth the only thing keeping his rage in check was his responsibilities towards his family.

But in the new world there was no cameras, no GPS, nothing. There was only power, and for once he was the one holding it.

"You know, I have a very ill sister." Lith said after venting out. "I could never practice darkness magic on living beings, because using it on animals is just plain cruel. You, on the other side, are just a monster with the face of a man. You will make a perfect specimen for my research."

Trawn woods resounded with screams for hours before death could come to claim her prize.

While Lith was approaching Selia's house, he felt a profound sense of shame tormenting him.

"It's a shame to waste so much good equipment and horse meat, but I have no plausible excuse for it. Our farm could really use a couple of horses, but what if someone recognized them? Too many risks for so little reward, destroying everything was the right thing to do."

Once he had finished with his experiments, Lith used darkness magic to wipe out any trace or proof of what happened, turning everything into dust.

Selia was so excited seeing the two rabbits to let slip her dire need for them, to fill the order of a very generous client.

Respecting his master's teachings, Lith exploited the situation.

"Hunters don't do favours, they make deals." He quoted.

In exchange for the snow-white rabbits, Lith managed to get a full set of warm clothes of lower quality and Selia would personally tan the remaining pelt for free.

That and the three rabbits ready for the cooking earned him great praise from his family, except Orpal. Over time he had started to consider all the food that Lith brought home for granted, so his hatred and envy returned stronger than ever.

"That little Leech! Hunting with magic is easy, any idiot could do it. Everything he does is a slap in my face. I never get the respect that I deserve as the firstborn, and it's all his fault! First, he flaunts his luck hunting, then he plays martyr, asking mother and father to let that piece of trash of Tista be the first to have fur clothes. What can Tista possibly do with them? Getting ill with style? No, Lith did it on purpose.

He knows that my stupid parents still resent me for telling the truth about that cripple. Lith did it only to make me lose face compared to him."

The truth was quite different from Orpal's self-centred interpretation.

Lith really loved Elina (mother), Rena (big sister) and Tista (ill sister), while Orpal was never on his mind. He cured anyone in the family without being asked to, except for Orpal. But not out of spite or anger, but simply because his existence was irrelevant in Lith's eyes.

If Orpal lived or died it was not his problem. He would not do anything to harm him, but would not help him either. For Lith they were complete strangers living in the same home.

The reason why he had wanted Tista to be the first to benefit from his luck, was that Lith hoped that with warm enough clothes his sister could finally spend more time with him and Rena during winter, playing in the snow.

In Lith's eyes the image of Carl would often overlap on Tista's visage. He loved them deeply, and both of them were victims of a cruel fate.

Lith wasn't willing to let anyone or anything, not even a congenital condition, take his loved ones away from him.

He suffered at the thought of how little of life she could enjoy. To give Tista the opportunity to experience speed and the feeling of the wind on her face, Lith built for her a swing with the help of their father, Raaz.

It was nothing special, just a wooden plank attached to four tight ropes hanging from a reversed U-shaped wooden framework with triangular standings. Yet the result was awe-inspiring for his family.

Swings seemed to be unknown in the new world, or at least they were in the Lustria County.

Raaz looked at the result of their work in admiration.

"It's amazing. Why the three wooden beams instead of just one?"

"Safety reasons." Lith explained while using earth magic to make the last 10 centimetres (3.9 inches) of the beams sink underground, making the swing impossible to topple by bad weather or a too vigorous movement.

"That way both ends are like a chair. Multiple legs mean that the weight is equally distributed among multiple beams, making the stress per beam significantly inferior."

"Off course! Now that you explained it is so simple. By the way, how do we call this thing?"

Lith was at loss for words, he had no idea what the word for the swing movement was and he could not ask that now.

"Err... It's a rocking chair."

"Dammit, why I always screw up with the little details? That's not a rocking chair, but it's the closest thing I could think about with my current vocabulary."

Tista fell in love with his present, and the rocking chair became soon a popular pastime in the family, to the point that Raaz had to build a couple more to avoid quarrels.

Furthermore, after his experiments with dark magic, Lith spent the following months trying to apply both Life Vision and Invigoration while treating Tista's symptoms.

"If I can manage to have for Tista's body the same imaging that Invigoration grants me for my own body, I could have a better understanding of her underlying condition. That would mean having much better chances of finding a cure!"

In the blink of an eye it was almost winter again, Lith's fifth birthday was approaching.

Lith was determined to capitalise on every single day before the great cold arrived, to catch as much game he could to fill the house's storeroom to the brim.

He had no idea how cold the incoming winter would be, and even if he was probably strong enough to survive a storm, he doubted his parents would allow him to test his theory.

During the last year Lith had explored more and more of the Trawn woods, learning how to move without alarming the animals. He had also discovered new uses for dark magic.

His newest spell, the Shroud, allowed him to cancel out his body smell and aura by enveloping Lith in thin layer of dark energy, making impossible for most animals to notice him, either by nose or instinct.

But it wasn't an easy task, even a small misstep would turn the Shroud into full-blown killing intent, making the whole woods aware of his presence.

That day Lith was raiding a new area, deep in the Trawn woods, investigating an odd feeling that had tormented him for days.

In certain areas of the woods, Lith could hear an annoying buzzing sound, and until that day he had always ignored it. Lith had always thought that it was the call of some weird, unknown animal, but in the last days the noise had gotten stronger and persistent.

"Damn, whatever this is, it reminds me of my desktop's Uninterruptible Power Supply unit whenever there was a black out. It's ear piercing."

Lith could not help but to imagine it as a desperate cry for help. He did not understand how he got that idea, but his gut was telling him that it was something important.

Ever since Lith had learned martial arts back on Earth, he had always followed his gut feelings when he had nothing to lose, and this was definitely the case.

The closer he got, the louder the noise. Lith knew he was on the right path.

He was running at full speed when he heard a bone chilling howl. Lith immediately used two of his life saving spells, Shroud to conceal himself, and the air spell Lightsfeet to float a few centimetres above the ground, making his movements noiseless.

Both required a lot of concentration, but it was better to spend some mana rather than stupidly endangering himself. Calm and focused, he searched for the source of all that noise.

"Holy sh*t! That's a Ry!" Lith exclaimed inwardly after quickly hiding behind a huge tree.

A Ry was a magical wolf beast, the apex predator of the Trawn woods. Magical beasts were more common and weaker than monsters, but they could still easily take apart a fully armed soldier.

Not many animals could turn into a magical beast, they needed a great talent for magic and enough time to feed off the world energy.

Once an animal became a magical beast, it could use its mana to boost its physical prowess and even developing spells that employed elements they were attuned with.

The Ry was almost as big as horse, with a fire coloured thick fur.

Lith could not understand why a Ry would come so close to a human settling, Rys were intelligent beasts that avoided unnecessary trouble. If humans did not disturb them, they would return the favour.

Lith felt pity for its prey. After making sure being upwind he cancelled both spells to save precious mana, getting a better understanding of the situation.

The Ry kept howling and growling, as it was in pain. Lith noticed that every time the Ry's snout got close to the ground, the buzzing sound would become high pitched and the magical wolf would whine in pain.

Now more curious than afraid, Lith activated Life Vision to estimate the Ry's power.

What he saw made him gasp loudly.

The Ry was unbelievably strong, with a mana flow almost on par with Lith's. But the real reason for amazement was a second mana flow, that belonged to the source of the buzzing sound.

It was a little stone, smaller than a thimble.

"What the f*ck? That pebble is alive? That explains everything! The noise it emitted must have lured here the Ry, just like it did for me. Taking into account its reactions, the noise is much more annoying for the Ry than for me. I never heard of rocks with mana flow, that thing must be a magical item. I cannot let that brute destroy it."

Throwing caution to the wind, Lith decided to take action and save the magic stone.

"The Ry's lifeforce is incomparable to mine, but if I manage to avoid it getting close, I know I can win. His mana flow is inferior to mine, and from what Selia told me magic beasts have no offensive spells."

First Lith activated Shroud again, then he started weaving his strongest spell.

"Plague Arrow!" A bolt of dark energy flew from his joined hands, hitting the Ry from its blind spot while it was trying again to crack the noisy stone with its teeth.

The screeching sound and the spell hit both at the same time, making the magical beast almost lose its footing.

Plague Arrow was a spell that injected a dense mass of darkness magic in the victim, disrupting both the mana flow and the life force. Lith had charged it as much as he could, to get as much advantage as he could.

Before the Ry could turn around to search for its enemy, a stream of lightnings erupted from Lith's palms, hitting the magical beast with enough strength to knock it down.

While increasing the distance between them, Lith cancelled Shroud for Life Vision. Despite the sneak attacks the Ry was still alive and strong.

Lith focused his spirit magic, using both his hands, trying to break its neck as he had already done countless times.

The Ry wasn't stupid, as soon as it felt the ominous sensation on his neck, it contracted its muscles, reinforcing it with mana and making it harder than steel.

"F*ck! So much for my advantage. If only I could use fire magic you would be already roasted to death. Could you please go away? That thing is mine! Mine!"

Lith conjured several ice javelins, throwing them at the magical beast from multiple angles simultaneously.

The Ry easily dodged them all, retaliating with a powerful magical roar.

Lith was only saved by the distance, having the time to realize that a massive wind blast was heading his way. He stepped back at the moment of the impact, using his own wind magic to dissipate the blast.

His sleeves got turned into confetti, but aside from some flesh wounds he was fine.

"F*ck me sideways! Thanks a lot, Selia. Magical beasts do not have offensive spells, sure. It seems this Ry never got the memo, though."

The Ry charged at Lith, using its wind blasts to disrupt his rhythm. Lith did his best to keep the beast at bay, but the difference in physical prowess was overwhelming, it was only a matter of time before getting caught.

"Okay, when you can't win, just run. Plan B, fight dirty!"

Lith stopped running away, to prepare his last attack plan before throwing the towel.

He conjured many ice javelins, but did not throw them, he left them floating in mid-air all around him.

After a moment of hesitation, the Ry chose to ignore them charging straight at that insolent pest.

"That's a good boy! Eat this! Twin spell! Flash&Bang!"

Lith's right hand produced a massive flash of light, for a moment it was like a second sun had appeared. His left hand, instead, used wind magic to produce a noise comparable to an explosion.

The Ry tumbled from the pain, its eyes and ears bleeding, while Lith was unscathed. He had learned long ago that as long it was infused with his mana, his own spells would do him no harm. He could cover himself in fire, ice or lightning without a scratch.

When the Ry crashed against a tree, Lith finally used the javelins, throwing them with all the force he had. All of them hit the target, but the thick magical fur prevented them from impaling it, piercing only through a few centimetres of flesh.

Lith immediately checked with Life Vision, the results appalling.

The Ry was definitely wounded and weakened, but far from being dead.

"Dammit! So much effort for so little damage. If it continues like this, I am the one who is most likely to run out of steam or luck. The Ry only needs one hit to kill me. It's not worth the risk."

Lith used spirit magic to recover the magic stone before running for his life. The stone was full of teeth marks, its sharp surface prickled Lith's skin.

"So long, sucker!" Lith screamed at the still stunned magical beast.

"See you again in a few years, let's see if you dare attack me again!" Small drops of blood touched the stone, and the noise stopped.

The Ry was still trying to make head or tails of what had just happened. It only wanted the damn noise to stop hurting his ears when that fierce man-pup showed up.

The Ry had tried to scare him away and to teach him a lesson, but it ended to be the one getting schooled instead.

"Bah, who cares." The Ry thought. "I wanted to get rid of that stupid rock and in one way or another I got the job done. That was one feisty pup, though. I pray that he shows more consideration towards his pack than he did for me. Otherwise when he grows up, he will be a scourge to his kin. Stupid humans and their greed bring only troubles. They are incapable even of taking care of their own."

The Ry, leader of all the packs in the Trawn woods, shrugged away the javelins before returning to its family.

Lith kept running until he was out of the woods, turning his head from time to time to check with Life Vision is he was being followed.

"There is no trace of the Ry, but better safe than sorry. I'm afraid I have pissed off that thing quite bad. It's better to give it some time to vent off and search for easier preys."

He was near Selia's house, when he finally remembered about the magical stone. Lith activated Life Vision, getting a good look up close.

The first thing he noticed was that the rough edges on the stone had smoothened up, it did not prick his skin anymore. The surface was still rough, but now looked like a stone marble.

The buzzing sound had stopped from a while, and the magical stone's life force, despite being still at the same level, had changed significantly.

Back when he saw it for the first time, its life force was like a candle about to burn out of wax, now it had become steady, with a regular pulse.

Warning Selia about the magical beast took priority, so he hid the stone in a leather pouch he always carried at his neck before knocking at her door.

Lith explained her everything, describing in detail the size and power of the Ry, leaving her flabbergasted. Of course, he never mentioned their fight.

Lith told her that he had fled as soon as their eyes met, and that he got away only thanks to his magic, showing his tattered sleeves as proof.

"Good gods, kid." She still refused to call him by his name. "You have been really lucky it took it easy on you. Had the Ry decided to give you chase, we would not be having this conversation. Nonetheless, thanks for warning me first, instead of going to your parents." Selia ruffled his hair.

"How do you know I came here first?"

"Because if you didn't, your parents would have probably locked you up in your house, and one of them would have come here to warn me in your place."

Lith froze up. He had just dodged a bullet much scarier than any Ry.

"You are right. Is better not to tell them, otherwise my hunting days may be over forever."

"Yeah. I suggest you taking the rest of the morning off. Make up and excuse for those sleeves and go home." Selia walked over the shed near her house where she kept her game maturating.

"Take these as a thank you for the heads up." She handed him a rabbit and a blinker, ready to be cooked.

"I was about to go in the woods. I think I will follow my advice, instead, and keep tanning the remaining pelts. I'll go to hunting in the afternoon, when it should be safer."

Lith thanked her with a deep bow, he knew how precious meat was in Lutia, even for a huntress as good as Selia. Not to mention she had just saved him from perpetual house arrests.

He spent the rest of the morning trying to understand how to use the magic stone. It appeared to be feeding off Lith's mana. Not leeching it like a parasite, more like nibbling at the mana that he naturally released being talented in magic.

The stone would simply breath in what Lith's body breathed out, nothing more.

Lith tried injecting mana into it, but to no avail. Then he casted elemental spells while holding the stone, to check if their strength, cast speed and area of effect were affected in any way.

All of his experiments gave no results, the stone looked just like any other.

"Stones do not have such a clear mana flow, and certainly they do not have any life force. Maybe this thing needs time to heal, to recharge or something. The Ry messed it up quite bad, let's hope is not broken. Unless it starts harming me, I'll keep it. Maybe is some kind of treasure, or maybe I can find something about it on Nana's books. I just have to be patient."

The last days of autumn passed on uneventful, until winter arrived.

Having reached the five years of age, Lith revealed a little more of his magic talents, proving to be invaluable to his family.

He would wake up first and warm up the whole house with magic, even the floors. At that point the fireplace was lit only because was cozy, and because rounding up around the fire, especially during the stormy winter evenings, was a family tradition.

Even the cooking was entrusted to Lith. Elina would prepare the meal, and Lith would cook it faster and better than a ventilated oven, keeping the soup warm for everyone during the whole meal.

He could not go hunting anymore because of the bad weather, his parents had been adamant on that. But Lith could still go to Selia's house to perform the chores for her.

During the last year, she had become so lazy to become dependant on Lith for keeping her house clean and her tools sterilized.

This meant killing two birds with one stone for Lith. Now he had an excuse to go fetch his private stock of meat whenever he got hungry, and Selia had to pay him for the chores.

Lith would do it for free, just to get out of the house, but his parents would not agree. So, Selia paid him a few copper coins to clean her house, and some more for Elina to do her laundry.

Both Elina and Raaz would welcome any extra income, and doing the laundry for eight instead of seven wasn't much an effort. Especially since Lith provided her an endless supply of hot water.

"Nice to meet you, I am Lith, boiler supreme." He would grumble inwardly every time.

In the first weeks of winter, Lith made a very important breakthrough. He finally understood how to use Invigoration's body imaging on others.

He was now able to let his mana seep into another person's body, and slowly take control of their mana flow, allowing Lith to know everything about the subject's physical condition.

The only way to achieve such a result was to keep physical contact, searching way ins for the mana without harming him/her.

Lith immediately used it on Tista, and his findings were appalling.

Her body was full of the tar-like substance, that for the lack of a better term, he had dubbed impurities. And the cause of that was her lungs.

Barely half of Tista's lungs were made up by a healthy tissue. The rest appeared like a black-brown mass that actively produced impurities, that over time filled the healthy tissues of her lungs and windpipe, making her cough first and ill later.

After giving it some thought, Lith was sure to have found a fix better than everything he had done before, but much more embarrassing.

Even though now his real age was that of a thirty-year-old man, he was still in a five years old body, which found extremely uncomfortable the idea of speaking of certain matters, especially with the family women.

After some deep breaths to calm down, he called Raaz and Elina to ask for their help and permission.

He had to dumb down the procedure quite a lot to get them to understand.

"Basically, I cannot cure Tista, not yet. But I discovered a way that should make her feel much better. In the best-case scenario, she could even get rid of most of her symptoms."

"And in the worst-case scenario?" Raaz asked full of worries.

"At worse she will be the same. That's I'm certain of it. But I need you to trust me."

Contrary to his expectations, they did not make any objections or question. Their trust in Lith's mastery of magic was boundless, and in their eyes, he was just a five-year-old, while Tista was barely seven.

She had yet to mature in every way, for them it was like yesterday when they bathed together in the wash tub.

The first phase was the easiest. Lith would take control of Tista's mana flow, overloading her body with his mana, and forcing the impurities to move away from the inner organs and toward the skin.

She would just feel hot the whole time, like having a mild fever.

Once most of the impurities were about to surface, Lith demanded to be blindfolded and that either Elina or Rena witnessed the process.

Tista was just a kid, and Lith feared that overtime suspicions might arise. During Earth's middle ages, incestuous relationships were disgustingly common, and he rejected even the idea of being thought of as a pervert.

The second and last phase required Tista to be soaking in the wash tub, that had been previously filled by Lith with hot water and soap.

He clearly remembered the stench the impurities gave off, and during winter ventilating the house was difficult, especially in Tista's condition.

Cold was her worst enemy.

Then, he could finally extract the impurities by using mater magic, creating and manipulating flows that would massage Tista all over her body. Lith would destroy the impurities as soon as possible with dark magic, preventing them to release their smell.

It was a difficult process that required using water and darkness magic, all while keeping Invigoration active. After the treatment, he would also use water magic to remove all the water still on her body, and then mix fire and wind magic to obtain a makeshift hairdryer.

When it was finally over, Tista looked like she was just back from a spa, while Lith looked like he had just got back from mining, drenched in sweat and out of breath.

"How do you feel?"

Tista made some deep breaths.

"I never felt so good! Like, ever! Also, I always dreamt of having a winter bath, instead of having to resort to warm water-soaked towels. Thanks, lil bro, you just made two of my wishes come true!" She tried to hug him, but he raised his arms in defence.

"Please, no. I'm disgusting right now, do not ruin my hard work. I now need a bath, some food and two hours rest, minimum."

Both his mother and big sister, nodded.

"Lith, dear, what was that thing with the water that you did?" Elina asked.

"Do you mean the…"

"Dammit, I can't tell her I was imitating a hydromassage, they do not have latin here. Nor I can call it a Jacuzzi or something. Whatever, I'm too tired for this sh*t."

"… water massage?"

"Yes, that! It seemed so relaxing. Tista has fallen asleep many times during her treatment. Sure it must be pleasant." Rena's words were filled with expectation.

"And that thing for drying her hair, could you do that again too?" Elina raised the ante, their aim more and more obvious by the second.

Lith was on the verge of collapsing, he had no time to spare with niceties.

"Are you implying that you would like a hot water massage too?"

More nodding followed, their hands joined in a silent plea.

"But… but…" Lith stuttered. "Both of you are…"

He was trying to find a polite way to say "hot". Lith could still remember Elina's naked body when he was still an infant, and she had aged very well.

Rena was now eleven. Maybe it was the countryside lifestyle, maybe it was related to the new world, but she had already begun her growth spurt, developing some curves, being nice and soft in all the right places.

Lith already had so many qualms for his little sister, and Tista was as flat as a board, only her long hairs gave her away as a girl instead of a boy.

"We are family. And all of us have dreamt of being able to take a bath during winter without catching a cold or worse. You have no idea how smelly we become by working in the barn, surrounded by the livestock smell and their dung. Sometimes the smell is so bad we can't even sleep at night. Couldn't you help us too?" Elina, his mother, completely oblivious of Lith's worries tried to play the guilt card.

Lith gave up.

"Fine, just let me rest a bit and then I'll help you. But you still need to blindfold me, and I demand a witness!"

They both started laughing out loud.

"Why so many qualms? You are just a baby, not some thug."

"I would like to say that I am a gentleman, but I do not know the word for it. I could say that I am a man, but that would make them laugh even harder. Stupid five-year-old body." He thought.

"Decorum." It was the only word in his vocabulary he could resort to.

"Damn, this is going to be a fricking long winter."

As Lith predicted, his fifth winter revealed to be quite interesting.

Treating Tista's condition required two session per week minimum, each one lasting around four hours. Two for the treatment itself and the remaining time for him to bathe and recover his strength.

Manipulating Tista's mana flow while simultaneously using fire, water and dark magic took its toll every time. The good news was that with so much practice, he was becoming accustomed to casting and maintaining several spells active at once.

Every treatment was easier than the previous one and her symptoms were quickly improving. Tista was now able to help with the house chores and the livestock.

She could even afford making long walks outside, when the weather was good.

The bad news was that Lith's relationship with his brothers was now uglier than ever before. Every time Tista got better, someone would reproach Orpal for his past words, and if no one did, then Tista would.

Orpal's fits of rage had really hurt her, his cruel words had shattered the image she always had of her perfect family, of her caring big brother.

Tista had been humiliated and betrayed, and she was not going to forget that easily.

Also, soon after hot winter baths had become available, Raaz too started to bathe often.

Orpal and Trion were the only ones left out. Orpal because he could not stand the thought of having to ask something from Lith, especially if he had to do it politely.

"I'm the eldest brother, I'm not supposed to beg runts for favours. I'm supposed to give orders and be respected for it! That Leech now has turned even the cripple against me! And I can't put Tista in her place, otherwise she will make me look like I'm the bad guy who picks on a sick little girl. Manipulative b*tch!"

Trion was between a rock and a hard place. He deeply loved Tista, but he also loved and respected Orpal. Trion was the only one by his side, so he had not the heart to betray their bond.

With everyone else fresh and clean, their smell stuck out like a sore thumb. Even with all their family goodwill, disgusted grimaces were impossible to avoid from time to time.

The first time Tista dubbed the duo as Orpoop and T-reek, she brought down the house with laughter. Orpal and Trion blamed Lith for their humiliation, but he just ignored them like he always did.

Raaz made for Lith a pair of snowshoes, spending more and more time with him. Raaz also started imparting him lessons about how to operate a farm and teaching how to whittle. Lith was still very young, but knowing he was able to skin and gut his game, Raaz thought there was no risk for him in handling a carving knife.

Orpal and Trion lived the situation differently, though. Until then, Lith had spent most of his time with the girls, letting Raaz spend all his free time with the boys. They felt wronged twice, once because Lith was robbing them of their dad time, the second because he always refused teaching them whittling before they reached the age of eight.

Things got even more unpleasant for Lith after midwinter. Every time he would treat Tista, he could notice that something was off. Both his mother and sister had an odd look in their eyes.

Often, they would open their mouth, only to close them right away, giving him the silent treatment for hours. Lith couldn't figure out the reason of this behaviour, so his mind started spinning like crazy.

"Do they believe me a pervert? Have I looked at them in an inappropriate way? Maybe they are starting to suspect something. Maybe they know I am from a different world!"

Lith's full blown paranoia wouldn't give him a second of rest, preventing him to have a good night of sleep. He heard them sighing too often, something was definitely off.

It took Lith all his courage to muster the strength to face them and ask for the truth.

The confrontation took place in the girl's room, where they were all gathered for Tista's treatment.

"Lith, did you really not notice any changes?" Elina asked pouting.

"Yes, I did. Tista is feeling much better now, right?"

"Off course there's that. But don't you notice anything here?" She waved her hand, going from Tista's head to toes.

"That's my sister."

"And?" She prompted.

"Her health is getting better, nothing is getting worse. Tista is still Tista." For the first time in his three lives, Lith could spectate with his own eyes a synchronized facepalm outside internet meme gifs. Rena was fuming.

"Really? Don't you notice that her hair is soft and silky? That it never tangles or get split ends?" Tista had light brown hair with shades of purple all over them. Ever since the treatment began, the colour had got more vibrant and visible.

"Shades of purple, uh. This is really another world after all. I wonder why women do have them and men do not." Lith thought.

"Now that you mention it, yes I do. But normally I don't care for hair, I keep mine short for a reason." Rena shook her head.

"Don't you even notice that her skin has got smoother? With no imperfections? That she is growing taller and slender than her peers?"

Lith kept scratching his head. He knew nothing about the average girl. Also, they were simply describing the side effects of removing impurities.

"And why is that a problem? Aren't those all good things?" This time even Tista joined the facepalm.

"They are envious of those things, dummy! They just want you to do the same for them."

Lith was flabbergasted by such trivial demands. "All those grimaces, the silent treatment, all of it for such a stupid reason?"

"Lith, dear, being attractive for a girl is a pretty big deal. For your sisters could mean getting the possibility to choose between just a wealthy man, and a good, wealthy man. It can affect their entire life, their happiness."

That sounded right to Lith's ears. "How could I have not thought of that?"

"While for your poor mother, it means that she can finally make all those pompous, high and mighty neighbours of her, that keep bragging about having so much more money than her, flaunting all the pricy beauty creams they can afford, kicking themselves out of envy!"

That sounded right to Lith's ears too. He accepted with a sigh, and his life finally returned to normal. He had to spend at least three afternoons a week for all the treatments, but it was worth it.

All that practice made his mana core grow steady and fast, his control of mana and cast speed improved by leap and bounds.

Right before the end of winter, he was forced to take in a new customer.

With the weather improving, the neighbouring families started meeting often. Sometimes for a visit, more often they would simply bump into each other while trading goods at the village.

And that was driving Raaz crazy.

"Lith, you have to help me!" His plea was desperate. "Your mother looks at least ten years younger, and I am starting to look more like her father rather than her husband. People keep murmuring how she was unfortunate marrying me, that she could have got so much better. Please do your thing on me too!"

Lith had heard the rumors. They were mean and petty, and deserved to be faced head on. He would not allow anyone to speak ill of his dad.

"Fine, but only at some conditions, the same I asked from mom. One, secrecy. Nobody must ever know outside you and me. Think of all the bad people that could want to exploit me."

Raaz nodded.

"Second, you will never talk about it with Orpal or Trion, nor ask me to do it for them. I don't care if they fall on love or want to marry. They made pretty clear what they feel toward me and Tista. I will not endanger my safety for them. Take it or leave it."

Raaz wanted to object, remind Lith that they were family too. But their behaviour had only gotten worse after being forced to spend so much time together during winter. Raaz had to scold them multiple times just to make them behave properly.

"I can only hope that when they grow up, my sons will be able to mend their relationship. I can't force them to get along."

And so, he accepted.

A few weeks later, Lith was headed to Selia's house for the usual cleaning, before going hunting. The dawn's light made the world around him look like out of a fairy tale.

The thin layer of snow was immaculate, reflecting the orange light over the weeds and trees along the way. His surroundings were completely silent, the world still and at peace.

At the next clearing, Lith took out the magic stone out of his pouch, observing it in the morning light.

During the winter months the magic stone had mended most of the teeth marks. Both its life force and mana flow had tremendously improved, but it was still useless as the day Lith found it.

"Just my luck." He sighed. "I risked my life facing that Ry for nothing. Let's hope I can find something in Nana's books, otherwise my only option it's to find someone willing to buy it."

Lith was really impatient to start his apprenticeship.

It meant being finally able to study magic from books instead as a self-taught. Also, as an apprentice healer, he would get practice magic and be paid for it, gaining the village recognition and respect.

So many birds with just one stone.

After putting the magic stone back into the pouch, Lith arrived at his destination and opened the door. That day Selia was out of town to sell her merchandise, so she had left the door open for him

It didn't take him much time to clean everything and leave.

As soon as he walked out the house, he got hit in the head by a wooden stick.

Lith's eyes went blurry, he felt someone pushing him back inside, making him fall to the ground with a kick in the stomach.

"Look who's here, the little Leech!" Lith recognized that voice, he was one of Orpal's friends.

Four boys quickly surrounded Lith, kicking him while he was still down, while a fifth closed the door after checking that no one did notice them.

"You little arrogant piece of sh*t! Orpal told us all about you. How you humiliate him every day, how you even dare stealing his food!"

"Yeah!" Another one yelled. "He is your big brother, it should be him getting the best part of the game, not you, little ungrateful runt!"

"Less yelling and more kicking, Trant! Remember Orpal's words, if Leech gets the chance to use his magic, we are finished!"

Despite Lith was curling up, desperately trying to shield his head and stomach, another kick grazed his face, making one of his baby-teeth fall.

"I know what to do!" Trant moved forward gripping Lith's hands with enough strenght to crush them. "Let's see how he does magic without hands!"

By coming that close, Trant had forced his friends to stop kicking, and a moment was all that Lith needed.

He released all the lightning he could muster, shocking Trant out cold.

But before he could do anything else, the wooden stick hit him in the head again, making him collapse.

"You d*ckhead! How dare you hurt your seniors! You deserve to die!"

The beating resumed, this time with no hint of mercy or holding back. Lith started coughing blood and teeth.

The four had him surrounded, Lith tried multiple times rolling out of the encirclement, but he would be sent back in the middle every single time.

Lots of feelings were ravaging his mind, while his body was burning with pain. The spite for his brother's betrayal, the rage of being assaulted by boys with double his age and size. But most of all, he felt helpless, and afraid of death.

"Damn magic! What use are you if I don't have the time to concentrate? Stupid stone, I kept you hanging from my neck for months, do something! Help me! Somebody, anybody, help me!" All his silent pleas went unfulfilled.

While his conscience was fading, Lith started cursing himself for his weakness and helplessness.

"Magic, martial arts, all that careful preparation, useless." Oddly, his last thought was not for his family or revenge, but for his last opponent.

"If only I was as strong as a Ry! He stopped my spirit magic so easily by…"

His survival instinct kicked in, his mind and body acting in unison.

"By infusing himself with mana! And I can do that too! It's the same principle behind Life and Fire vision!"

With each breath he started calling upon the elemental energy, but instead of wasting time giving it a form, Lith let it merge directly with his mana core, infusing himself with earth magic.

His whole body started hardening, the pain getting duller and duller. Lith also infused himself with light magic, accelerating his healing and preventing himself from losing consciousness.

Soon he was able to ignore the kicks, springing back up in one fluid motion.

"What is earth? It's just a mix of minerals and organic matter, the same as my body. I can be immovable like a mountain!"

With that thought, he further hardened his head, before headbutting from below the chin of the assailant in front of him.

Before the remaining three could recover from the surprise and resume the encirclement, Lith raised his guard. The left arm forward for blocking, the right arm ready to strike.

Orpal's friends were scared, after Lith knocked down their leader with the headbutt, the only thing on their mind was to prevent him to use magic, so they rushed forward, not giving him time to recover.

The closest assailant tried to punch Lith in the face, to disrupt any casting he could attempt.

"60% of the human body is made of water. I can be formless like water."

Lith's left arm, imbued with water magic, coiled around his opponent's right arm like a snake.

"The body burns calories to produce heat and energy. I can be destructive like fire!"

Fire magic burned through his muscles, granting Lith short bursts of explosive strength. By flexing his left arm, Lith broke the immobilized limb in three points, elbow, ulna and radius, while his right fist hit the opponent on the nose, pulverizing it.

The pain made the boy faint, his nose bleeding profusely.

The remaining two fell into panic, and tried to run away.

"Nerves, synapsis all the information and orders in the body are transmitted via electrical impulse. I can be fast as lightning!"

Lith imbued all his body with air magic, becoming fast enough to blink in front of them, punching both in the gonads at the same time.

All of his opponents were down, sobbing in pain or fainted.

Lith spit a mouthful of blood, while contemplating the results of his last experiment.

"Seems that this new magic puts too much strain on my body. Maybe I'm too young, maybe I took too much damage, whatever. I have all the time in the world now."

"I need to decide what to do with you motherf**kers." Lith said while using light magic to heal his internal injuries.

"It may take a while, but you'll get my undivided attention. Enjoy your stay."

Lith sat on the couch, his left hand on the chest, performing the healing.

The right one was open in front of him, releasing five streams of lightning that enveloped the five boys like tendrils, making them scream with agony.

The original plan was to kill them all, erase the evidence and then make Orpal have an "unfortunate accident". As Lith calmed down, however, he realized that it was an idiotic plan full of holes.

"If five young men disappear suddenly in a sleepy village like Lutia, it is bound to cause a commotion. Also, Orpal knows they were here. Once he discovers they are nowhere to be found, he could come too close to the truth for comfort.

I don't want to give him any kind of leverage on me. There is also the possibility that these blockheads shared their plan with their siblings. Killing is the wrong answer here, too many things can go spiralling out of control. Worst of all, if I make Orpal disappear too, the whole family would worry and grieve for him. Most certainly I don't want to turn him into a f*cking martyr! I want him to pay. To suffer for his whole f*cking life!"

While in deep thought, Lith would release streams of lighting from his right hand, keep the spell active for a couple of seconds, then give his assailants a few moments of relief before zapping them again.

They had already lost control of their bladder and bowels multiple times. When they were not writhing in pain, they were sobbing and begging for mercy.

"I can't let off this trash easily either. Always remember to pause between lashes. The short interval without pain fills them of false hope that it's finally over, making the next hit more painful than the previous. To punish them is not enough, I want to break them!"

There were too many variables. Lith was sick of running circles, so he decided to resort to an modified version of his very first plan, back on Earth.

"Those guys were trash too. I wonder how they reacted after my death, when the photos got leaked all over the internet with their names tagged."

Lith had a cruel smile at the thought of his revenge, backstabbing them after so many years.

With a final spell, Lith made the five lose consciousness and started arranging their bodies with spirit magic.

"I must keep both spirit and fusion magic a secret, so I need to create a stage from which I could end up a winner with just normal magic. An encirclement is too much for a five-year old, I'll fan them out."

He put back the wooden stick in the hand of his owner, making sure it was smeared with blood.

Lith was arranging the final details, when he heard someone calling his name from afar.

"Sh*t! I took too much time thinking. My family must have sent someone looking for me. This screws up a good part of my plan, dammit. I must play it by ear and hope they did not send Orpal, or it's going to get ugly."

Lith looked through a window, spotting Elina approaching Selia's house with long and fast strides.

"Good, it's mom! Rena or dad would have been better, but I can work with this."

When she got close enough, Lith responded to her call with a moan, slowly opening the door while begging for help.

Elina started running with all her strength, and once inside what she saw was bone chilling. There was blood everywhere, teeth on the ground and Lith was almost unrecognizable.

He was losing blood from multiple injuries. His face was swollen to the point that his eyes were barely visible amidst all the black and blue.

Lith was holding his left arm like it was hurt, and just by talking he could make her notice his bleeding gums and missing teeth.

"Mom! Mom! Thank the gods it's you." Lith voice was distorted by the injuries into a lisp. "I was so afraid they would get up before I could call for help. They tried to kill me, mom, and I have not the strength to fight anymore."

Elina quickly embraced him, feeling him yelp and shivering from the pain caused by even such a gentle touch.

"My baby! My poor baby. Who did this to you?" The two of them started to cry at the same time. Elina because she was scared to death, Lith because while in his mother's embrace he could finally allow himself to vent all his rage and fears.

"Orpal! It's all Orpal's fault! These are all his friends They even told me their plan when they thought I was about to die!"

Elina was shocked by those words, refusing to believe such a terrible thing. But those five really were Orpal's closest friends. One of them, Rizel, was even holding his grandfather's wooden stick, and it was stained with blood.

Elina looked at Lith's head, easily spotting the bruises and cuts shaped after the cane.

"Why would they assault you otherwise? And how could they possibly know that today Selia was out of town?" Elina thought out loud.

Among the sobbing and crying, Lith was inwardly smiling. Feeding her facts was a last resort, it would have a much deeper impact if she put the pieces together by herself.

"Can't you heal yourself, even a little bit?" Elina's voice was full of worry, her son's condition seemed dire. Lith was expecting this question.

"Now that I had the time to recover, I could. But I won't."

"Why?" That answer made no sense to her, Elina started worrying his injuries were affecting his mind.

"Because when you and dad decide what to do with Orpal, I want you to take a good look of what he did to me!" Lith screamed, coughing a mouthful of blood from a wound he had reopened on purpose.

"Orpal has always hated me! Always will! No matter if I help you all with chores or your health. He does not care how much game I bring to the table or money to our house, nothing is ever enough for him!" Lith kept screaming and sobbing.

"Am I such an awful son, such a terrible brother to deserve this?" Lith hugged her with all of his strength, bawling his eyes out.

Elina was at loss for words, but only for a moment. She held her son tightly, raising him up from the ground and carrying him back home.

Then she brought the whole family to Selia's house to let them witness the scene with their own eyes. The matter was too serious, she could not hide it from her children.

When Orpal saw Lith, he became pale as a ghost. Elina refused to call him by his name, and if glares could kill, he was certain that she would make him leave the fields feet first.

"What the heck went wrong? Those morons knew the plan! They had only to rough him up. Teach him respect and humility. But most importantly to force him to shut his f*cking mouth up! Now my stupid parents will never let me hear the end of it."

And when he saw all the blood on the floor, with his friends still there and out cold, he felt his life falling apart.

As soon as Elina let him do it, Raaz embraced Lith before checking his conditions. After that he looked around the room, easily recognizing the five culprits.

"Rena, go call their parents. Take Tista with you, I don't want her to hear what I am about to say." Raaz was even paler than Orpal, clenching his fists so hard that they started to bleed.

Elina had whispered to him only three words after coming back with Lith.

"Orpal did it." In the beginning, he had refused to believe that one of his beloved children could do something like that, but the truth appeared so horrifyingly simple to his eyes.

No one outside of the family knew that Lith worked for Selia. No one else could possibly know that exactly on that day and time Lith would be left alone in Selia's house.

But the most painful and irrefutable truth was that no one but Orpal could possibly resent Lith so much. He barely knew anyone outside of his family and their closest friends.

Lith had always been working so hard to help all of them, especially Tista, that he never had the time to make friends or enemies.

Raaz felt those thoughts ripping his heart out of his chest, but he had to know.

"Did you do it?" Raaz looked Orpal straight in the eyes.

A terrible silence fell in the room, revealing the truth that Raaz was trying so hard to deny, looking for a possible alternative explanation.

But there wasn't any.

"How, how could you possibly do this to your brother?" Tears were streaming from his eyes.

"Dad, I swear, it's not like you think! I can explain!" Orpal mind was desperately trying to find a plausible excuse.

"Is there anything to explain?!?" Raaz roared out of anger.

"Aren't those your friends?"

"Yes, but…"

"It wasn't you telling them what to do? It wasn't you planning how, when and where to ambush Lith? Causing him to be almost beaten to the death? In the gods' name how could you possibly explain all that?"

"Because that wasn't the plan! They didn't listen to me, just like you! You never listen to what I say! You never let me have my way, always siding with Leech and the cripple. You are never on my side! Never!"

"They got carried away? Is that your explanation?!?" Raaz didn't know if to laugh or cry.

"Do you mean that ambushing and beating your brother, my son, is perfectly fine as long they do it with moderation?" He raised his fist, tempted to give Orpal a taste of his own medicine, but Elina stopped him.

"Too much blood has already been shed today. Don't do it. You'd only harm yourself, he is beyond saving." Elina was crying too, but her face and tone were stone cold. She had already made up her mind.

Raaz was too broken to stand anymore, he needed to sit down on a chair, weeping.

"You are right, my love. I have lost count of the times I have tried to make him understand that respect is something that you must give before receiving it yourself. That we were his parents, not his friends. We are supposed to help our children understand their mistakes, not enabling them. The gods know if I haven't tried to teach him that his siblings were not his servants, that a man's authority lies in the responsibilities he shoulders, not how strong he is. I know I have not been a perfect father, but I did the best that I could. I don't know what to do with him anymore, Elina." Raaz wiped his own tears, looking for his wife's support.

"I agree. Even now he doesn't show any remorse. He never loved his brother, stealing his food and calling him names even before Lith was able to walk. He is clearly unable to understand the enormity of what he did. I believe that if we allow this to continue, he will do it again. If not to Lith, to Tista. And I'm not going to let him doing more harm to our family."

She held Raaz's hand tight, searching for the strength she needed.

"I think we should disown him. Strip him of his name and report him together with his accomplices for attempted murder to the village militia."

"Thanks, my love." Raaz had no more tears to cry, his resolve steeled like his voice.

"I don't think I had in me the strength to say it."

After those words, Orpal fell to his knees. His world was crumbling beneath his feet. All he knew, all he had planned and dreamed about, had disappeared in the space of a single word.

Disown.

It meant that he was dishonourably banished from his own family, leaving him with nothing he could call as his own. He had just become a nameless, penniless orphan.

When the parents of the other boys arrived, things escalated quickly. Seeing their boys broken and unconscious in a foreign house, stinking of their own feces and urines, they demanded for an explanation.

They were all long-time friends, so it was easy for Raaz making them calm down enough to have a civil conversation.

"You" Raaz ordered the nameless one "explain what you did."

Despite being still shocked, he was already angry enough to return to his old self.

"If I must go down, I'll bring them all with me. We'll share the same destiny, so I won't be alone. I refuse to be the only one to pay for this!" He thought.

The nameless one confessed that he had always hated his brother, and how he had planned to teach him discipline and respect with the help of his friends.

When he had finished, everyone in the room was appalled, refusing to believe those words. They had always known Orpal as a good, kind young man.

"Lith, can you tell us what happened here exactly?"

Lith acted like he was reluctant to leave his mother's embrace, and after a dramatic moment of pause, he stepped forward. He made sure of limping and holding his left arm, while wincing with pain at every step.

"As you all know, my family has a lot of expenses, and my sister is ill. So, since I am quite talented in chore magic, Selia pays me to clean her house too. I give the money to my parents, to help them make ends meet."

"I have carefully picked the words for this speech." Lith thought. "If they don't feel pity and compassion for a beaten up five years old after this sob story, these guys are full blown psychos."

"Today miss Selia is out of town, so I was alone in here when your sons suddenly barged in and started beating me." He held out his arms, turning around to let them see how battered he was.

"I tried to defend myself, like my dad taught me, but they were too big and too strong." Lith started sobbing again. "I had to use magic to defend myself, I was so scared! I really thought I was going to die." He returned between Elina's embrace, weeping non-stop.

"Poor kid." Said Bromann, Rizel's father, picking up the wooden stick from his son's hand. "This piece of trash even dared using his grandfather's only memento. Elina, Raaz, Lith, I offer you my most sincere apologies. I have failed as a man and as a father, to raise such a snake in the grass. Whatever is your decision, I will comply without questions. But first…"

Bromann splashed Rizel's face with a bucket of dirty water to get him conscious.

He needed to hear the truth from his own son. He still could not fully believe even his own eyes.

"D… dad? What are you doing here?" Rizel held his chin that was throbbing with pain, when he suddenly recalled what had happened.

All the eyes were on him, including Lith's. The same cold eyes, glowing with blue energy Lith had before unleashing lightnings.

"I make the questions, young man. And if you don't want another beating or worse, you'd better tell the truth. What in the gods' names were you all doing here?"

Terrified by both his father and his tormentor, Rizel could only say the truth.

One after the other, the four remaining boys were woken up and forced to tell the whole story. One of them tried to expose Lith's torture, but his father made him shut up with a strong slap in the face.

"Five against a little kid and you have the gall to blame him for going all out? Our families are friends from generations, your actions dishonoured us all! When we get back home, I will show you what real torture is!"

"What a moron!" Lith laughed inwardly. "Their credibility is less than zero, they can tell whatever they want. It will only appear as the pathetic excuse of a criminal caught red handed."

"Raaz, what do you want us to do?" Bromann asked.

"I am going to disown Orpal, and then report all of them for attempted murder. I won't ask anything from you. We all know how hard is being a parent, especially in moments like this. I just wanted you to hear it from me, before I go to the village chief."

"I will not disown my son. Not yet at least." Bromann said. "But I can promise you that I will do nothing to defend him in any way from the consequences of his actions. And when he will be back home, I will make sure that he will never have the opportunity to harm your family again!"

So, they all went to Lutia, where the village chief listened to the six boys' confessions before pronouncing the sentence.

"After hearing all the facts and testimony, I hereby sentence the six of you to four hours of pillory, where you will be shaved of all your hair and whipped ten times for your crimes. After that, you will spend three days in jail to reconsider your actions.

Any objections?" All those present shook their heads.

"I have a question." Lith said.

"For me or for the prisoners, young man?"

"For them. Can I?"

"But off course. Ask them whatever you want."

Lith nodded, and moved in front of Rizel.

"Did Trion know?"

"Off course he did!" Orpal screamed. "He is always stood by my side, unlike you, Leech." Lith ignored him.

"Did he?"

"No." Rizel looked at Orpal with eyes filled with disgust. "We planned everything when we were alone. Orpal said that he did not trust Trion enough. That Trion is a spineless coward, and that he feared that he could rat us out."

"Thanks." Lith then spoke to the village chief again. "Could you please reduce his sentence? His sincerity helps my whole family, it clears our doubts and my brother's name as well."

"But off course! If the victims asks for mercy, how could I possibly refuse? Rizel will only receive five lashes, and after the pillory time has passed, his family is free to bring him home. Is that okay for you?"

Lith nodded, and Bromann shook Lith's hand while his wife was weeping with joy.

"Thanks, Lith. That means a lot for my poor Lisa. I will not forget your kindness. I'm sure you'll become a great man, just like your father."

Lith was completely satisfied with that outcome.

"I didn't know that disowning a son, especially the firstborn, was possible. Everything went even better than I imagined. Orpal's friends can't wait to get some alone time in jail with him, and once his sentence is over, he is doomed. Either someone from the village adopts him, something that I find hard to believe, or he will be deported to the nearest orphanage. I hoped to get rid of Trion too, but maybe that's for the best. I don't think my parents can bear losing two sons at once. And between their happiness and getting even with that idiot, they come first by a landslide."

The following days were really hard for Raaz, Elina and Trion. The couple needed quite some time before overcoming their grief.

It was really hard for them to accept that the kind and bright boy that they brought up for almost twelve year was gone forever. Even worse, they started to suspect that the Orpal they knew never really existed.

Thinking back about all the bad things he did and said over the years, he might as well have been deceiving them all along,

Trion was the one having the hardest time. He had lost his favourite sibling and his family's trust at the same time. Despite Rizel had cleared his name, the suspicions remain. How could he have been so close to Orpal and yet never noticing anything?

"I can't blame them. In their shoes I too would think of me as either a liar or a complete idiot." Trion didn't know if to laugh or cry.

Lith, Rena and Tista, instead were having the time of their life, even if they did their best to avoid their parents to notice.

They would get more and better food, clothes and they did not have to tolerate Orpal's mean words and petty jokes anymore. Plus, there were all the gifts that five families sent them as an apology.

Both the girls had stopped considering Orpal as a brother from the day he had proposed to get rid of Tista, calling her a cripple.

Lith was above and beyond them, he never considered him his brother. His only worry was for his parents, so he tried to lessen their burden as much as he could.

Lith's magic was now strong enough that he could till and plough the fields with earth magic.

He could also hunt for much bigger preys, his aim set to deer, boars and bear, whose pelt could be sold for a pretty penny.

The time for the spring festival was nearing, and Lith wanted some extra pocket money to buy something nice for his parents and sisters. Trion was still a stranger to him.

The spring festival was held midspring, during the equinox, to celebrate the time when the light finally overcame the darkness and cold of winter.

Lith was happily playing around the Trawn woods, looking for the best opportunity to kill a huge boar.

"Dammit, it's neck and skin are too thick to break with my current level of spirit magic. Fire and thunder could easily put it down, but that would mean damaging either the pelt or the meat. I need to get creative."

The boar movements were easy to predict, since it would always charge in a straight line By using air fusion, Lith's body was fast enough to dodge the charges with ease, as long as he managed to prevent the beast from coming too close.

"When an ox went mad, my father told me that the best way to put it down is to strike at the legs, instead of the head. Once you take away their mobility, beasts like this one are easy prey."

At the next charge, Lith conjured a thick layer of ice before dodging. When the boar stepped on it, it lost its footing, spinning on itself like a top.

The boar crashed against the huge oak Lith had aligned it with, its bones snapping on impact. Lith closed in enough to not miss his next shot, but always keeping a safe distance.

"A cornered prey is the most dangerous one. Always respect the prey, never underestimate it. It only needs one hit to kill you." Lith remembered Selia's teachings.

Lith made a finger gun, aligning it with his target before shooting an ice arrow that penetrated in the boar's right eye, puncturing its brain.

The beast collapsed on the ground, but Lith shot another arrow in the left eye too, just to be on the safe side.

"Okay, dead it's dead. Now the problem is how the heck do I carry it out of the woods? My spirit magic may not be enough to carry a several hundred kilograms dead animal all the way until Selia's house. And even if I actually manage to do it, how can I explain it?"

Lith was nervously tapping with a finger on a nearby tree, trying to find a solution before having to fight to defend his game, when the dead animal suddenly disappeared.

"What the f*ck?!? Since when do boars vanish into thin air? Who's there?"

He promptly activated Life Vision, scanning the surroundings in search of his enemy, but the only living beings he could find were small birds and rodents.

"Okay, this is getting creepy, but I need to get my boar back."

The boar appeared back, very close to Lith, making him jump away in fright.

"Why are you messing with me? Who are you?" Lith screamed while checking out the best escape route.

"And invisible enemy could easily kill me. Screw the boar, I need to get out of here fast." He thought.

"There is no need to escape." A gentle feminine voice replied in his mind. "I'm not your enemy, my host."

"Okay, if you want to scare the sh*t out of me, you're doing a great job. What do you mean with host? Where the heck are you?" Lith kept looking around, the enemy somehow was untraceable even by his magical senses.

"Stop looking around, host. I'm here were you put me. Around your neck."

Lith instinctively grabbed the pouch and threw it away. He could finally notice that both the life force and the mana flow of the stone were bigger than ever.

Lith had always kept it in a blind spot, and since it was useless, he forgot to check it with Life Vision since the day of the ambush.

"Okay, I hate riddles. Tell me who or what you are, or I'll leave. As much as it pains me losing such a game, it's not worth having a creepy, mysterious stone talking in my head 24/7."

"Please, don't!" To voice turned desperate. "I'll die without my host."

"Enough with the riddles!" Lith screamed out loud. "What the f*ck are you?"

"Our minds are linked, it's easier to show rather than tell."

Suddenly Lith's mind was filled with images and memories that were not his own. He could have thought of having been teleported away, if the images weren't full of holes, allowing to still see part of the woods through them.

"I'm sorry, but my powers are almost depleted, this is the best I can do."

Lith could see a gigantic tower, whose vault was so deep to reach the bottom of the ocean, it's top so high to touch the sky. He could perceive that the whole structure was a giant magical artifact, pulsing with mana.

At some point, the owner of the tower had died, and without his/her mana to nourish its core, the tower began to decline. Centuries passed, while the tower kept looking for its next host, using illusions to send away those it deemed not talented enough or unworthy.

Over time, the tower spent all his powers, and to avoid death it had been forced to an extreme sacrifice.

To prolong its existence, it started to consume its own walls, floors, everything within itself, even its memories.

More centuries had passed, now only the tower core was left, barely the size of a pebble. It had nothing left, except its sense of self. Preferring death rather than becoming a mindless tool, the tower core attempted a desperate gamble.

It sent a signal that any being with the bare minimum magical powers to sustain its life could perceive. The clock was ticking, every second that passed, the tower core could feel its life slip away.

When the one answering the call resulted to be a Ry, the tower core had tried to communicate with no results. The beast mind was too different from the first host, making the mind link impossible.

Hope was lost, the tower core could only wait for its end.

But then a saviour arrived, saving the tower core from the beast's maw, using his own blood to bond himself with the tower core, right before it fell into a deep slumber to recover from its wounds.

The images disappeared, leaving Lith alone with the pouch and the dead boar.

Lith's mind was overwhelmed, incapable of any thought outside stupid jokes.

"Does that make us married or what?"

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, back on my world, being bonded for life with someone you would not have any intimacy was the joke definition of marriage."

"That's funny." The voice chuckled. "And also kind of sad."

"Never mind the jokes. Let me get this straight: you once were a mighty artifact, full of treasures and knowledge. But now everything you had and knew is lost, and you are dimished to the size of a marble. Am I missing something?"

"No, all your statements are correct."

"Also, you did not pick me because of my talent or virtue, but simply because I possess, and I quote 'the bare minimum magical powers to sustain your life'. That makes me nothing more than an off-brand life support system."

"That is not exact. I am now bonded with you until your death do us part."

"That sounds more and more like marriage." Lith grunted.

"I am no parasite, you can see me as a symbiote. We will both benefit from our relationship."

"How? Are you saying that if you manage to get your strength back, you will also recover your memories and magical artifacts?"

"No, those are lost forever. I'm just like you. When you grow up, can you spit back the food you have eaten in the past to pass it on someone else? No. The same applies to me."

"Then what's in for me? The pleasure of your company?"

"At the moment all I can offer you is a pocket dimension."

"Say what?"

"One moment, I'm looking at your memories to make it easier to understand. It works like a Dungeons & Looting's Bag of Keeping."

"That's interesting." Lith pondered. "An interdimensional space where I can store my stuff without being hindered by its weight. How big is this pocket dimension?"

"Ten cubic metres big. It can store anything that amounts up to such volume, no matter the weight, as long as it's something inanimated."

A cruel intuition flashed in Lith's eyes.

"Can it also store things like lightnings, fireballs or incoming arrows? If so, it would be an invaluable tool for both offense and defence."

"No." The voice killed Lith's hopes. "The pocket dimension is outside space and time, so it rejects both life and kinetic energy." Feeling its host disappointment, the voice added quickly.

"This also means that whatever you store will not rot, cool down or warm up. A roasted blinker would be kept hot and tasty, frozen in the moment you finished cooking it."

"That barely qualifies as a silver lining." Despite their chat was quite long, it was only happening inside their minds. Barely a second had passed after Lith had accessed to the stone memories.

"Whatever. At least you save me from my current predicament. Now I know how to bring the boar back, I just need a decent excuse to explain how I managed it."

The stone mind-shrugged.

"Keep it simple. Drop it to the edge of the woods, and tell Selia that you managed to kite it to that spot before killing it. It should be easier to believe that the truth."

Lith nodded.

"Resourceful and smart. The fact that our minds are linked still creeps me out, but thanks to that I can see you have no malice or hidden agenda towards me. If you really are what you say to be, I'll keep you. True loyalty is a too rare commodity to turn it down when you find it. So, until I am convinced of your good faith, consider yourself on probation."

Lith put the pouch back at his neck and the boar in the pocket dimension.

"By the way, I can't keep calling 'you' and 'stone'. Don't you have a name?"

"No." The voice sounded really sad. "It's lost, like everything else."

"Don't be a pouter. A name is just a name. You can call me Derek, Lith, host, CZ DELTA, whatever. I'll always be the same cynic, misanthropic, lying, cutthroat guy I have always been. Would you like me to name you?"

"Yes, please." Lith had it ready since he heard the tower core's story.

"You are supposed to be a great artifact, so I'll name you after the greatest, albeit fictional, magical forgemaster that I always admired when I was a kid. Solus."

"Thank you, Lith. I like how it sounds. And I really appreciate you named me after someone you loved, rather than give me a pet name like Happy or Lucky."

Lith had the odd feeling Solus was mind-blushing.

They spent all the time on the way back chatting. Lith was really interested in understanding the limits and use of his new partner skillset.

After assessing that both Lith and Solus could activate the pocket dimension, he proceeded to pick the right spot. It needed to be close enough to the edge of the woods and covered enough to make spotting the boar from a distance impossible.

"There are countless things that can go wrong leaving a dead animal alone, even for a few minutes. A passerby that then claims it's his kill, a scavenger believing to have lucked out a free meal, take your pick. With my luck, I never trust the odds."

"You trust no one." Solus turned to a flat tone.

"You bet. That's life rule #1. Rule #2 is 'No good deed goes unpunished'."

Lith then used earth and wind magic to mess up the surroundings, mimicking the signs of struggle left by his previous fight with the boar.

"Bah! All this effort and I get such a sloppy result. If Selia throws a second glance at this scene, she'll expose my lie. I can only hope the prize catches her eyes enough to not make any question."

He then gently dropped the pouch on the ground.

"As soon as you receive my signal, take the boar out the pocket dimension. I'll be back in a jiffy."

Without waiting for a reply, Lith started running at full speed towards Selia's house. Once out of their mind link range (10 metres/10.9 yards), Lith could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

"Dammit, leaving her like that was d*ck move. She surely knows the real reasons why I did it. It's hard to accept someone else in your head, reading every single of your most embarrassing thoughts and memories. Not to mention that in D&L every sentient artifact was usually a bag full of troubles, trying to mind-control the owner or something. I know that it's just fiction, but still…

What if I just stumbled in this world's Lone Ring, like in Vasyli Bolkien's books?"

Lith shrugged his head, his body covered in cold sweat.

"I bet that as soon we are back together, she will have access to this inner monologue too. F*ck my life. No pain, no gain. If she really is what she says, she's worth the risk. At least I'll have someone who finally knows the real me."

A few minutes later, Selia and Lith were approaching the drop spot, riding the two-horse cart she used to move around the heaviest goods.

"Is it really that big to require two horses?" She asked sceptically.

"I think one should be enough to move it once it's loaded. The second is necessary to drag it on the cart easily."

Once Lith and Selia jumped down their ride, he gave Solus the signal. Selia detached the horses, guiding them by the bridle.

Lith took with him the thick ropes necessary to make a harness for the boar, making it easy for the horses to drag it out of the woods and into the cart.

When Selia saw the game with her own eyes, she whistled with approval.

"Good gods! This thing must be around 300 kilograms (661 pounds)! You weren't boasting as usual."

"I never boast." Lith used spirit magic to stealthily recover the pouch, while Selia was engrossed sizing the beast.

"Please, all men do." Selia clicked her tongue. "You are not an exception. With all your magic and secrets, do you want me to believe you do not enjoy your short, dark and teethless act?" She added laughing out loud.

"It's not my fault I have a lisp now!" Lith was pissed off by her non-stop mockery of his new voice. "Will you ever let me hear the end of it?"

"I'm sorry, I really am. It's just that your tough boy attitude is even more hilarious now that you have a lisp." The first time she had heard him call her "Phelia", she had laughed hard enough to fall from her chair, hugging her belly.

"Judging from its size, it was really close to become a magical beast. We could have sold it for a much bigger sum, it's kind of sad." She sighed.

"Yeah, and if it was a magical beast, I would be much deader now." Lith rebuked.

They kept bickering until the boar was safe and sound on the cart.

Only once they got back to her house and started bleeding out the game, Selia got her business attitude back.

"The most valuable piece is the head. If we can find a noble willing to stuff it, hang it over his fireplace and take the credit for the kill, we can sell it really well. The pelt and the meat are nothing special, do you have any plans about them?"

Lith nodded. "All this meat will allow me to skip hunting for a while, so I prefer to keep and maturate it. As for the pelt, it should make a nice carpet for my parents' bedroom."

"Always a family boy, huh?" Selia ruffled his hair, this time there was no mockery in her voice. "I'm so proud of you being so considerate toward your family that I'll tan it for free. I still get half of the head price, though."

"Perfect."

"Good! Our best shot is with Count Lark himself. He is both loaded and very proud of his hunting skills. I must reach my contacts in his manor to test the waters. Fingers crossed!"

Lith suffered at the idea of losing so much money, but half was better than nothing. He didn't know how to tan pelts or stuff heads, and lacked both time and instruments to do it.

And even if he did, he had no way to sell the merchandise outside his little village.

After Lith left Selia, he and Solus started chatting again, feigning ignorance about each other's feelings.

"Solus, I think that your help will be invaluable to bring my martial arts training to the next level."

Until that moment, Lith's martial training had had been really sloppy. Despite all his efforts, in a whole year of practice he had barely managed to regain the skill level of a 4th kyu of aikido (the equivalent of an orange belt for karate).

The only aspects he had managed to step up to the 3nd kyu (the equivalent of a green belt for karate) were the footwork and the fall techniques, and that because the initial progression depended completely on him.

Without a sparring partner, someone that could watch his moves and help him correct his mistakes, there was only so much that he could do.

He could either make a mud dummy move or train himself, he was not at the point that he could do both at the same time. Making a rough mud doll perform human like movements required a lot of concentration.

That meant that he could only put the dummies in position and then practice while they were once again still. Lith's body was even clumsier that his original one back on Earth, to make real progress he needed to be hit, to be thrown around, to practice all his moves on a moving target.

But Lith couldn't ask for help from anyone. How could he possibly explain that he wanted to practice alien martial arts? What help could anyone give him, not even knowing the basics of the basics? That's why he usually practiced in the middle of the night.

And Solus was the perfect solution for his problem. After further merging their minds, they had discovered new uses for the tower core. Lith had just to plant her into a mud doll to turn it into a quasi-golem, finally getting his sparring partner.

Solus had all the human senses and more, and with Lith permission, she could consume his mana to perform spells he knew in his stead. Her nature was that of a magic tower, she was supposed to overseer countless floors and devices.

Even in her weakened state, moving a poor excuse of a mud golem was easier than pie. Solus further improved Lith's idea, managing to make the golem's body soften at the right times, before hitting or being hit. This way she was able to put enough strain on Lith's body to train it, and avoid any possible injury by accident.

She also had access to all his memories, including all of his masters' teachings. Solus was able to use those memories to correct Lith's mistakes and help him improve by leap and bounds.

Thanks to Invigoration, Lith was now able to stay awake for a whole month before his performances started declining, forcing him to rest. So, thanks to Solus, whenever he would meet a bottleneck, he would train martial arts.

He only needed to take a short break when the fatigue became too much. Light magic would mend his muscles, making them recover and grow stronger in a matter of minutes, dissipating the accumulated lactic acid at the same time.

During those moments, Lith and Solus would chat heart to heart.

"So, what do you plan to do in the future? Why do you put so much effort in all this training? Magic, martial arts, hunting. Why don't you stop from time to time, just for smelling the roses?" Solus asked.

"Whenever I do stop, I start thinking about the future. And that scares me to death. I already know that death is a trap, forcing me to switch one hell with another.

I don't want to live all my life in a small village, just the idea is equivalent to the death penalty. Doing the same routine every day, in a prison without bars where I am forced to lie every single day, waiting to die and start all over again.

I can't bear this thought. My plan is to test this body's limits, get as strong as I can, so that once I reach adulthood, I will be able to explore this world, and see if it's worth living in.

If either this body or this world meet my expectation, I will strive all my life to find a way to prevent me passing into another world after my death."

"How?"

"I don't know, I'm still as ignorant as a baby about magic. All I know is its practical use, I have no idea if it's possible to create magical artifacts.

But if my hypothesis is right, I could become a lich. Even better, I could find a way to bind my soul to this world, so that in case of death I would remain here, possessing the nearest available corpse. I hope that when push comes the shove, I will also have found a way to retain both my magic core and muscle memory."

"And what if both the world and your body fail you?"

"In that case, I would not mind starting my journey once again. If I have to live a sh*tty life in a sh*tty world, might as well depart early.

I'll keep moving around until I roll my 100, and get born as a perfectly healthy young master of a filthy rich family, a chosen one or whatever. Is just a matter of luck."

"What about your family? Are you going to abandon them like that?" Lith pondered seriously about that matter.

"Off course not. Making them lose their son, their brother for no reason, without even giving them a body to bury is too cruel, even for me. I'll stick around until my family needs me before checking out."

Solus giggled.

"Don't you see? Things are not actually all black and white as you make them. When you awoke in this world, you couldn't wait to die. To 'reroll' as you say.

Then you chose to stay for the magic. Now you are willing to continue this life for someone else's sake. Give yourself some time.

The bad people you met have reinforced your bias on life, but the good people are also slowly changing you. At the beginning you couldn't care less about Tista's life, now it's all you think about.

You hated both Elina and Raaz even before knowing them, because of your issues with parental figures. Thy are not your parents back on Earth, this planet is not Earth. Give it a chance before doing something so extreme."

"How do I know you are not telling me all this stuff only to keep your host?"

"Easy peasy, read my mind." After checking it thrice, Lith could not find any hidden agenda or egotistical reason.

"Dammit, all this mind-link stuff is so irritating. I cannot get out of this argument with mistrust or doubts. It's my loss. For now, at least. You are barely a month old, life will change you. It always does."

Solus giggled again.

"Or maybe it will change you, and you will start warming up to me. And then you will have to take care of me for your whole life, hubby."

Lith felt a cold chill run down his spine.

"Please, don't call me like that. I'm ready to go again. Don't go easy on me!"

"I never do." Solus replied, getting on Lith's already shaken nerves.

Thanks to all that exercise, Lith would quickly overcome any bottlenecks, and soon he could feel the bottled-up impurities trying to find their way out again.

Lith had pondered if it was the case of getting rid of the impurities in the same way he did for the rest of his family, but after discussing it with Solus, he decided not to.

The purification treatment he had devised for Tista was an artificial method, and even though it gave the same benefits in term of physical appearance and resistance to illness, their magic power and physical prowess never got enhanced.

Lith had no idea why the impurities had to travel to the mana core before getting expelled, inflicting such excruciating pain. But it was worth the cost.

It happened during one of their sparring sessions. As soon as Lith realized what was happening, he quickly undressed himself to not taint his clothes.

This time he offered no resistance, discovering that it wasn't so painful after all.

Lith puked much more impurities than the last time, letting them came out of all his pores and orifices.

The stench was so bad he was about to faint before managing to destroy them with dark magic.

He was completely exhausted, this time not even invigoration could replenish his energies, he needed to sleep.

"After a bath. I stink so bad I could raise the dead." Solus ignored the obvious remark.

"It's exactly as you remembered. Whatever happens to you, is like a sword getting tempered and purified at the same time. Both your body and mana core had undergone qualitative changes again.

I think your potential skyrocketed, promoting you from my bare minimum requirements. You still need to work hard to develop it, though."

And so, Lith continued his routine until the day of the spring festival came.

It was without a doubt the worst day of the year for Lith. He would be forced to spend the full afternoon away from home, surrounded by complete strangers and robbed of any privacy or personal space during the festivities.

All the families in the village would gather for the festival, forgetting about all their daily problems and miseries, since everything from decorations to food and drinks were paid by Count Lark.

He would also take part in the whole event, to keep his bonds with the community strong and maintain his reputation of a fair Lord, instead of being just a faceless guy who collected taxes making their lives even harder.

The festival was comprised of three parts.

The morning would still be spent like a normal day's work, to let foreigner merchants and carnies prepare their stands and arrange their merchandise.

In the evening the families would gather and check out the stands, searching for trinkets and jewellery to buy with their extra money to add them to their daughters' dowry.

The food would mainly consist of appetizers, like fresh fruit and vegetables, with skewers of different kinds of meat and even exotic food, brought by Count Lark for the occasion, like saltwater fishes and seafood.

The only drinks available would be water and light beer.

After the sunset, huge braziers and torches would be lit all around the village, while the Count's workers would prepare the stage for the festival main event, the election of the Spring Maiden.

All the girls fifteen and sixteen years-old could take part in the Spring Maiden contest, which was more like a debutante ball rather than a beauty pageant.

It was the opportunity for all the young maidens of marriageable age to show off their beauty and virtues, in hope to catch the attention of as many suitors as possible.

The judges of the Spring Maiden contest were always the same, Count Lark, the village chief and Nana.

After the election, the real food would be brought out, with lots of roasted animals, soups and caramelised fruits. Both pure and watered wines would be available, raising the spirits for the finale.

The last part consisted of a ball, encouraging the eligible bachelors to approach one or more maidens that may have caught their eye.

Each part would affect Lith's mood differently. The first would cause extreme boredom, tempered by the fact that he was still allowed of moving alone.

The second was akin to torture. He would be forced to sit on his father shoulders, staring for hours at a bunch of little girls he did not give a damn about.

The third was the best one, but only because it was very short. After some dancing, his parents were too tired to remain any longer, and would finally bring him back home. None of their children was yet of marrying age, so they had no reason to linger.

For the first time in his new life, Lith had some money in his pocket, so he could check out the carnival games that offered the best prizes.

"They cheat, I cheat. Let's play this fair and square."

Using spirit magic he won a beautiful stuffed bear for Tista, beating a ring toss game rigged by unbalanced rings. From a crossbow shoot game he got a silver coated hair comb for Rena. All he needed to do was to use two strands of spirit magic, one to guide the dart to his target, the second to force it to crumble. Last, but not least, a silk ribbon for his mother from a Wheel of Fortune stand.

The carnies were flabbergasted, but trying to bully a local child in front of so many villagers, not to mention Count Lark, would have earned them nothing more than the beating of a lifetime and a permanent ban from every event in the county of Lustria.

They started to keep an eye on him, but Lith was not greedy and left after getting the three prizes. He actually wanted something for Raaz too, but all they had were feminine products.

The carnies hoped to lure the young boys into wasting their money, trying to impress the girls with expensive presents they could not afford without gambling.

After distributing the presents, Lith searched for Nana, he wanted to have a chat about magic with an expert. He found her sitting on a bench near her house.

The first thing he did was looking at her with Life Vision. Her mana flow was way bigger than Lith's, but her life force was weaker than Tista's.

Nana was a over sixty years old woman, but she looked like an eighty-year-old Earth woman. Her back was so hunched that she needed a cane to walk properly.

She had sharp grey eyes, a face full of wrinkles and a big aquiline nose. Nana always wore a shawl over her head, to avoid her long grey hair bothering her during work.

At a first look she seemed an inconspicuous old lady, but when you got near, you could feel the raw strength exuding from her body.

"Must have had a rough life." Solus commented.

"Hello, Nana. How are you?" Lith asked politely.

"Hello to you, little imp. You sure are growing fast, aren't you?" Just like Elina had noticed back in winter, Tista and Lith were growing taller and slender than their peers. The same was happening to Rena too, after she had received Lith's treatment.

Lith was already over 1.1 meters (1'8'') high, his shoulders broad like he played water polo.

Lith nodded. "Yes, I do. Can I ask you a question?"

"As long it's not about my age, be my guest." Nana laughed.

"Nana, are you a strong magician?" Nana was surprised, the question not very childlike.

"Yes, I am. When I was still a young girl, I even got a scholarship for the prestigious Lightning Griffin academy, and I managed to graduate without any problem." Nana straightened up proudly, remembering her years of glory.

"Then how did you end up being a healer in Lutia?"

"How tactful of you, Lith!" Solus rebuked him.

"Children are allowed to be rude. It's one of their few privileges."

Nana's mood turned gloomy.

"You see, Lith, in this world there are commoners, nobles and mages. A strong mage has a status on par with the nobles, depending on his/her magic power. Back then I was very strong, but not a genius. Sadly, I was also stupid and naïve, so I made some very bad choices and ended up alone, without anyone backing me. I had only two options left. Either submit to a powerful noble or living free with the status of a healer. Guess what I picked?"

Lith became gloomy too, the idea of losing everything after working so hard for it made his future look even scarier.

"There, there kid!" Nana brightened up. "Let's not spoil the mood and enjoy the festival."

After leaving Nana alone, Lith thought back at her words about his growth, and stopped in front of a mirror on display, watching his reflection.

He could only sigh in resignation.

"No matter how many impurities I expel, I managed to fail even at the gene pool lottery. I took so much from my dad and so little from my mom.

When I look at myself while brooding, rather than cool I like some kind of psycho kid escaped from juvie. If I smile, now that I miss so many teeth, I'm not even cute. Even all dressed up, I could barely pass for a street urchin from one of Dicken's novels."

Solus tried to brighten him up, but to no avail.

Later in the evening, Count Lark introduced to the village elders his guest of honour.

"Chief Yurok, sage Nana, allow me to introduce you the young Ricker Trahan, son of my dear friend, baronet Lokar Trahan. This young lad is a really talented magician, that in the future will bring glory to our county." Count Lark was a magic enthusiast, always trying to sponsor promising youths from his land.

"Nice to meet you, young man." The village chief saluted him with a polite bow, expecting the other to offer him his hand or at least reply to the bow.

Ricker instead kept looking around, his eyes filled with contempt.

"The pleasure is mine." He replied with a cold tone.

"Ricker, where are your manners?" Count Lark rebuked him mildly. "Sage Nana was a powerful and renowned magician in her youth. Feel free to ask her for advice. Her experience could prove invaluable to overcome any difficulty you may encounter during your studies."

"I have no doubt about that, my Lord." Ricker bowed this time, but to Count Lark.

Nana had seen enough nobles in her life to recognize the type. A high and mighty young master, pampered enough to believe that only nobles could achieve greatness.

The people of the village were having a hard time tolerating so much disrespect towards their elders, but for the Count's sake they limited themselves to angry whispers.

"Oh, oh, oh! You got yourself another spunky one, dear Lark." Nana laughed without any warmth.

Ricker shuddered at such lack of respect, the old bat calling the Count by his first name without honorifics. But he knew that Lark was a sucker for magicians, and judging from her attitude, he had granted the old bat the right to do so.

"He has every right to be proud, dear Nana. Next year he will turn twelve and apply for a Lighting Griffon's academy scholarship, and with a little luck he will enrol just like you did back in the day!"

Ricker failed to repress his amazement, knitting his eyebrows at Nana.

"By the gods, how could such a commoner get admitted into the academy?" He thought. "She must have cheated her way in, no doubt."

"Really?" Replied Nana with exaggerated enthusiasm "Why don't you ask him to show us what he is capable of?"

Count Lark gladly accepted, and per his request soon was set up a one meter (3'3'') high stump with a head of lettuce on its top.

Ricker had to stay at least 10 metres (11 yards) away from it and knock it down. It was a very basic exercise for anyone who wanted to become a magician, often use to quickly get rid of unworthy candidates.

Only those with real talent for magic were able to use chore magic at such range. For normal people, magic had a range of a metre or two.

To learn something outside chore magic, one had to either enrol in a magic academy or buy very expensive books.

"Young man, do your best!" Count Lark's voice was full of enthusiasm.

Ricker had done that exercise countless times, but always alone. This time he was surrounded by commoners, clearly hoping to watch him fail and get the chance to ridicule him.

Even worst, count Lark was putting a lot of pressure on him. In Ricker eyes this wasn't a simple test, but a matter of life and death.

Feeling countless eyes on him, he lost his concentration while performing the hand signs and stuttered the magic word.

"I-Infiro!"

He produced a chestnut big fireball, that almost missed the lettuce. Yet with a small boom the head of lettuce got knocked off.

No one applauded except for count Lark.

More than one "That's it?" could be heard among the crowd.

Nana walked slowly to the vegetable, bringing it back for the Count to examine.

"He messed a few key hand signs, stuttered the magic word, and missed the lettuce entirely. It only got knocked off because of the explosion." Nana remarked coldly.

"I would not keep my hopes up, Lark. When I was his age, I was able to actually hit my target without performing signs nor using magic words. They admitted me only because of my perfect silent magic." Nana's grey eyes were staring at Ricker in contempt.

"Well, he is still young, that's why I brought him to you. He has another full year to prepare for the exam. There is still time to fix the small mistakes. I was hoping you could mentor him."

"I would be glad to, I really would. But between the villagers and my disciple, I already have my hands full. I'm too old to take care of two youths, and my apprentice takes precedence. As you know, a magician's word is her bond."

"You have an apprentice?" Count Lark was shocked no one had informed him about such critical matter.

"Yes." She nodded, smiling in Ricker face.

"He learned to read and write and the age of three, and by that time he had already learned chore magic all by himself."

"Marvelous!" Count Lark excitement was a slap in Ricker's face.

"Yeah, he is also my disciple." Selia stepped forward, adding fuel to the fire. She and Nana politely detested each other, but between her and a stuck-up obnoxious brat, she would always choose the devil she knew.

"He hunts in the Trawn woods from the age of four. Even if he can only hunt blinkers and critters, he would never miss a moving target, let alone some deadweight lettuce."

She then whispered to the count's ear: "He is actually the you-know-who that provided the you-know-what."

"Fantastic! Excellent! When can I meet him?" His monocle jumped out of his eye orbit from the happiness.

Ricker was on the verge of exploding out of anger.

"Can't he see they are just leading him by the nose? How can someone with such a high social status like the Count trust even one word from these commoners?

Lying and cheating is in their nature. They are just trash, trying to stoop us at their level to make themselves feel better about their pathetic lives! If that old bat is a magician, then I am the crowned prince.

Why do I have to bear with all her nonsense? And how come even a gut-stinking hunter can freely speak to a Count? This evening could not turn any worse. How the heck I managed to let my father convince me to come to this pigsty?"

"Here he is!" Bromann shouted triumphantly, forcefully dragging Lith by his arm.

He had no idea what was happening. Lith was with his family, nibbling at a caramelized apple, when Bromann appeared out of the blue, babbling about the village honour or something.

Too many eyes were on him, Lith's intuition told him that something was wrong, so he decided to play it close to the vest.

"Count Lark, I'm honoured to meet you." It didn't take a genius to understand that the overdressed beanpole with the monocle had to be the lord of the land.

Lith greeted him cupping his fist, performing a deep bow. He then proceeded greeting the village chief, Nana and Selia, making his bow deep according to the respect they deserved.

Lastly, he turned towards the ill looking kid standing next to the Count. He had to be around ten years old, 1.4 metres (4'8") high. He was wearing a silk white shirt over high-end leather pants. His face was all red and sweaty, like he had either run for his life or been bitten by a venomous snake.

The situation made no sense to Lith, but since no one seemed worried about the kid's health, Lith did what he was supposed to.

"Greetings, honourable guest. I hope you enjoy your visit in our village." Lith cupped his fist again, making only a small bow. He had no idea who that kid was, and Ricker could not find the strength to introduce by himself.

The Count seemed to have completely forgot about his existence.

"Oh, oh, oh!" Nana laughed. "See, Lark? Manners. That's something so many youngsters lack nowadays."

Lith kept looking around, waiting for someone to explain what was happening.

"Can I be of assistance?" He asked.

Ricker once again needed all his willpower to prevent himself from throwing a fit of rage.

"This is their prodigy? A toothless bum? I should ask the Count to whip them all to death for their blatant lies! Simply outrageous!"

"Yes, Lith." Selia stepped in again. "Count Lark loves magic in all its kinds and forms, and I was just telling him about how you kill blinkers without ruining even a feather. Would you mind to show him?"

She took out a wooden stick, holding it up for the Count and everyone else to see.

Lith sighed with relief.

"All this fuss for chore magic? They almost gave me a heart attack. If it's just to entertain some bored nobles, why not? If the village thrives, so will my family."

"Brezza!" After twirling twice his middle and medium finger, a small vortex enveloped the stick. Outwardly it was just like the ones every housewife used daily to clean their houses, but looking at it closely one could notice that it was actually two different vortexes, one spinning clockwise and the other counter clockwise.

This way the spell applied a huge strain to the stick in the point where the two vortexes connected, causing it to break almost instantly.

Lith had invented it after Selia had started bothering him too much about how he killed the blinkers. He could not show her spirit magic, so he came up with this trick.

Ricker wanted to rebut saying that Lith was standing barely a meter (1.1 yards) away from the stick, but even he knew how hard it was to use two different spells at the same time. He also knew that such an objection would be met by the old bat requesting him to do the same. And he had no idea how to.

Nana waved her hand, and a villager put another head of lettuce on the stump.

"Lith, be a dear and knock that out, please."

Lith was getting more and more confused. The Count now had stars in his eyes, looking at him like some mythical beast had descended from the heavens, while the noble kid was as pale as a ghost.

"What the heck is going on here? Why the Count is so engrossed by cheap magic? And why no one cares about that poor kid? Whatever he has is getting worse."

Lith shrugged before flickering his middle finger while saying: "Jorun!"

An ice dart hit the lettuce dead center, making it roll a few meters away.

"Without using hand signs!" The count gasped, his voice so faint that Lith could not hear him.

"One last thing, dear Lith. If you manage to indulge this poor old lady, I will treat you and all your family for free until you start your apprenticeship. Are you willing to humour me one last time?"

Lith had no need to think before accepting. Despite his best efforts, Tista still needed constant care. From time to time they had still to seek for Nana's help and it wasn't cheap.

Nana smiled, full of confidence enough for the both of them.

"Bromann, toss one of those as high as you can."

Bromann threw a head of lettuce with a lob shot, sending it about three meters (10") high. When it reached its peak, Nana made a simple gesture, cutting the air horizontally with her extended hand and fingers, conjuring ten ice darts.

Five struck its left side, five the right side. When the head of lettuce started falling, Nana cut the air again, this time vertically, splitting it evenly in four parts.

Then she simply opened her palm toward the sky, conjuring four small vortexes that brought down the four pieces slowly.

"Damn! Not only Nana's mana flow is still superior to mine, but her skill level is above and beyond my expectations. I could probably achieve the same result, but I'd need both hands and something more than just a casual wave of the hand.

Now I understand why everyone in the village holds her in such high regard. She is likely to be the reason why the village of Lutia is so peaceful. If she can do so much with simple chore magic, I can't imagine what she can do with a real spell." Lith thought.

"Now is your turn. Bromann!"

Another head of lettuce, another lob shot.

Lith knew it wasn't a contest, he wasn't supposed to perform as good as Nana.

Until Lith could get a clear picture of how much talent was considered good, how much to be considered a genius level and how much for the "burn that monster" label, he had to play it safe.

When the shot reached his peak, Lith made hands signs with both hands shouting "Jorun!", conjuring four ice darts, two per side. When the lettuce started to fall, he used "Brezza" to cut it unevenly in half, using it again to summon two vortexes to bring the pieces down. Once again, they were rotating in opposite directions, the phenomenon highlighted by the slowly spinning lettuce.

"In for a penny in for a pound. They already know I can do it, if I have to entertain the Count, might as well do it with a little swag."

The crowd exploded into an applause, soon joined by and ecstatic Count Lark that still could not believe his own eyes.

Nana sent Lith away to his parents, reassuring him that she would keep her side of the bargain, before speaking again to Ricker Trahan.

"And that, young man, is what real talent for magic look like!"

Ricker could not hear her, thought. Back when Nana had showed her skill, he had fainted standing up.

His mind could not accept that all the certainties he had grew up with, had proven to be nothing more than convenient lies.

After the end of the spring festival, nothing major happened, and Lith's life returned to his usual routine.

Solus proved to be of invaluable help for his magical training. Despite having lost all her past knowledge and being quite naïve in the ways of life, she was by far the brighter of the two.

Solus was not limited to the humans' five senses, but actually had twelve. Solus was certain that by regaining her powers she would be able to awaken even more.

Solus' sense of mana helped Lith to better understand the laws of magic that determined the innate talent and the mana capacity.

Her mana sense was similar to Lith's Life vision, but much more profound and accurate. Solus could see the mana flowing even from blades of grass or pebbles. When looking at someone, she was immediately able to grasp their magic talent.

Even more important, she was able to use her mana sense even on Lith's memories. According to Solus, all the information needed for the mana sense were also contained in the visible spectrum, but the humans lacked the means to interpret them.

"When you were on Earth, you had no mana core. Your native world had basically no mana at all. The same thing happened on the alien spaceship.

But when you were born here, you started with a very little blood red mana core. By absorbing and processing the world energy with your breathing technique, you managed to develop it from red to orange."

"Four years of unrelenting practice just to promote it to the next rank?" Lith was quite depressed by the news.

"Not quite. Your mana core also keeps changing and developing as you grow up, and this happens to everyone else too. At the moment of your birth, Tista's mana core was already field poppy red, and turned brighter every year. Right now it's light orange, and it would not surprise me if after her final growth spurt it turned yellow, or even green. She seems to be fairly talented for magic."

"And that where does it leave me?" Lith kept feeling worse about himself. "Am I really a complete failure in everything? Looks, talent, can't I do one thing right?"

"Stop moping around and listen to me. You keep forgetting that you are two years younger and I have no idea if males and females develop their mana cores at different rates. Also your constantly skipping steps makes hard for me to understand what your base talent is. After every cycle of expansion and compression, your mana core would turn one shade brighter. Every time you expel impurities from your mana core, it skips to the next level. Right now is deep green."

"Is it me, or this mana core strength seems to be somehow related to the light spectrum?" Lith pondered. "A prism can break down white light in its basic components: red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple."

"Agreed." Solus mind nodded. "But it could also somehow be related to fire. Flames follow the same principle, a yellow star is colder than green one and so on. Our real question is: Is the final step for a mana core to turn purple or white?"

Lith shook his head.

"I'm starting to get a head splitting headache. We'll face this like I did for college back on Earth, one exam session at a time. Even back there, if I started to think about all the exams that I had to pass to get my degree, only to start right back for my master, I would go into a deep depression." The memory made him shudder.

"So let's focus on the present. I'm deep green, what about Nana?"

"She is the only person with a light cyan mana core. To be born with such talent, she is really impressive."

"Is there anyone else talented in the village?" Lith had to be aware of the possible competition.

"No. The ill kid count Lark brought along had a bright yellow mana core, but I don't think he lives close by."

Lith sighed, all that information overwhelming him. For so many years he had deluded himself into thinking he was special, stronger than anyone else.

Now he felt like the proverbial frog in the well, finally discovering the vastness of the sea.

"Enough moping around, let's roll up our sleeves and work hard. Nothing that's worth having comes easy."

Lith and Solus kept practicing together for the whole year, growing closer and closer like fraternal twins.

Lith's birthday was on fall, but all major activities in the village would be suspended until the next spring. Since Nana's offer was to replace the two years public school with an apprenticeship, Lith too had to wait until spring to begin his magical education.

In the late winter the weather cleared, and the trades between the village and the farm houses became more and more frequent.

Thanks to this, Nana was able to let Lith know the date she had set for starting his apprenticeship, entrusting the message to one of his neighbours that had come to her to heal a nasty wound suffered while repairing the roof.

When the day came, Lith woke up early, determined to keep his routine of cleaning both his house and Selia's before going to the village.

The huntress had done so much for him that Lith considered her as an aunt. A stingy, nagging one that would make rip-off deals, but an aunt nonetheless.

That morning the house was in turmoil. All his loved ones were so excited at the idea of having a future mage in the family, to be barely able to eat their breakfast, spending all their time and energies giving him unwanted and obvious advices.

"Do not be late. Is better getting a little early rather than late."

"Be obedient and respectful. Nana is giving you a great chance!"

The reason why everyone was on edge was that despite they considered the first day to be of vital importance, Lith he had to go to the village alone.

The house was in dire need of repairs, and with Orpal gone they needed all hands on deck to also take care of the fields and animals.

Lith didn't mind it at all, it was just a thirty minutes' walk that he had done countless times. Raaz and Elina, though, felt like they were abandoning their child in his hour of need.

Lith rushed out of his house, to escape from that barrage of worries. He had been very calm about the apprenticeship, it wasn't his first rodeo, afterall.

But they had managed to make him nervous like a teenager at his first date. After finishing the chores at Selia's house and collecting his usual payment, Lith restlessly looked at the sun.

"Dammit, it's still barely dawn. And here I was, shuddering in fear. I still have a lot of time."

Lith walked briskly toward the village, hoping that at his arrival Nana would at least be already up. Arriving so early to give her the wake up call would have been quite embarrassing.

When he arrived midway, Lith noticed something odd. There was a horseman standing on the side of the road.

It was already unusual finding a stranger so early in the morning, but what really alarmed him was that the man wasn't moving. Whoever he was, he was clearly on patrol.

As soon the horseman noticed Lith, he took out a silvery whistle from under his shirt, emitting a high-pitched noise.

Lith kept moving forward, but slowly, ready to react at any moment.

Soon the scout was joined by four other horsemen, and they started trotting toward Lith in an arrowhead formation.

Lith stopped moving, many spells ready at hand.

"Kid, are you Lith? Son of Raaz and Elina?" Said the horseman on point. He was a middle-aged man, with brown hair and eyes. He had perfectly trimmed moustaches, and everything from his straight up posture to his commanding tone identified him a military of some sort.

Looking carefully, all the horsemen had the same vibe, marching perfectly aligned. Yet they wore casual clothes, white shirts over leather hunting pants.

"Isn't a little earlier to go out without the matching leather jacket?" Lith thought. "Unless off course they need to avoid showing any household insignia."

"Who are you, mister? My mother always tells me that I am not supposed to talk to strangers." Lith decided to stall for time, while he and Solus checked their surroundings for lookouts or possible reinforcements still in hiding.

"I perceive only five human males, above average physical strength, deep red mana cores." Solus reported. It was the same thing Lith had determined using Life Vision, but four eyes were better than two.

"I ask the questions, kid. Are you the Lith that is supposed to start his apprenticeship today?"

Lith grimaced.

"Whoever sent this hired muscle, knows way too much about me."

"I am." Lith retorted fiercely. "And it's none of your business."

"I'm here to give you a friendly advice, son. Today you are feeling very ill, and it's best for you to go back home and stay in bed all day."

Lith anger started to grow and he didn't care about hiding it.

"I'm feeling perfectly fine, thank you. Now scram!"

The five men lowered their hands to the weapons hanging from their belts, the reins held tight ready to the charge.

"Last chance, kid. Turn back now. I know you have such a pretty house and such a beautiful mom. Not to mention two gorgeous sisters ripe for the taking. It would be really sad if something bad happened to them."

Lith released such a powerful killing intent aura, that the horses took a step back. The hair on the horsemen's neck suddenly standing up.

"I wanted to play this nice and slow, but I just changed my mind."

With a sweep of his right hand, five wind blades struck the horses' legs, making them whine in pain while collapsing on their sides.

"Now you cannot retreat anymore."

The man with the moustaches and his right-hand man managed to dismount with a roll, avoiding getting crushed by the falling horse. The other three weren't so skilled.

"Kill him! Go! Go! Go!"

"Kneel!" Lith voice was cold, his words fell on the two men like boulders, making them instantly fall on their knees.

Lith's spirit magic was stronger than ever, and he wasn't holding back even one bit.

"What the heck? Sarge, I can't get up!" Screamed the right-hand man struggling on the ground.

"I never allowed you to talk or to look at me. I said kneel!" Another wave, even stronger than the previous one, pushed their heads toward the ground.

Despite dropping their weapons to absorb the impact with their hands, they still hit the ground so hard that they started to bleed.

"Much better. Now let me dispose of the garbage before resuming our talk." Lith walked over the closest horseman, still under his horse, the leg stuck and broken, making him scream and wince in pain.

With a wave of the hand, turned both their heads 180°, the necks snapping like a dry log tossed into the fire.

"Stay away! Stay away from me, monster!" Screamed the next in line, crying in desperation.

"Am I a monster? Wasn't you the one ready to burn a house full of innocents, to r*pe a barely eight years old child?" Without waiting for his reply, Lith clenched his fist, distorting the man's head before making it implode like a walnut.

"Please, please! It's not my fault! Have mercy! I was just following orders!" Said a blonde, handsome youth trying to free his trapped leg.

"Just following orders… I could lecture you about the many atrocities that men like you did with such an excuse. But you see, I'm just the same. I'm just following orders too! Mine to be precise!" A fire bolt struck both horse and rider, turning them into a pyre, screaming in agony.

Lith returned to the kneeling men. They were still struggling to escape his control, their faces pales as ghosts, gritting their teeth while exerting every ounce of their strength.

"I'm sorry." Lith said with a cherubic smile, while letting them raise their heads. "But my Puppet Master spell isn't so simple. It takes more than a touch of strength and a spoonful of wishful thinking to escape from it."

The two men wanted to beg for mercy, but their mouths refused to open. It was like their teeth were fused to each other.

"Now, I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that I don't need both of you. And between the pack leader and a lackey, the choice is obvious. The good news is that I allow you to speak. Any last words?"

"Please, don't! I just married, I needed the prize money from my Lord! My wife is expecting a child! I could not allow to lose my position."

Lith emitted a cruel, joyless laugh.

"We'll have to agree to disagree. You say wife, yet all I can hear is widow."

Lith put his left hand on the man's head, turning it into a block of ice.

It fell to the ground, shattering into countless shards of bones, skin and brain matter.

The man with the moustaches started to puke uncontrollably, but his mouth was still tight shut. Some barf managed to escape from his nose, the rest he was forced to gulp it down over and over, to avoid chocking.

Lith raised his hand, making the man with the moustaches float in mid-air upside down, so that he could watch him straight in the eyes.

"And now, you have only two choices. You can tell me what I want and die without suffering too much. Or you can keep resisting, suffering through unimaginable pain and agony before telling me what I want to know. You have free will after all."

At those words the man steeled his resolve, recovering the courage worthy of a soldier that had looked death in the eyes many times on the battlefield.

When Lith allowed him to speak, he wasn't afraid anymore.

"I am knight, my honour lies with my Lord! I will never betray his trust, you filthy mongrel!"

"Oh my, you're so helpful! Thanks to your friend there, I already knew there is a Lord behind the ambush. But I thought you were just mercenaries. Are you telling me you are actual knights? Maybe his personal guard?"

Realizing his mistake, the knight bit his tongue, literally, trying to die before letting anything else slip out his mouth.

"Tsk, tsk! Not so fast!"

Lith froze him in place again, forcing the teeth away from the tongue before healing it with light magic.

"You are way dumber than you look." Lith never stopped smiling, talking to him with the calm a collected manner a mother would use with a small child.

"I'll spell it out for you. Not even death can save you from me. I can take you apart, piece by piece, and then put you back together, like the flesh puppet you are."

Lith's eyes lost any trace of humanity, his voice exuded only hatred and rage.

"But if it's pain that you want, I can give you plenty."

Lith clenched his fist, and suddenly the knight felt his nether regions squeezed and crushed, like into a vise. The knight's eyes filled with tears, his mouth was only able to emit gargling sounds.

Lith would release the grip from time to time, giving him some rest, before twisting and turning his hand and so the knight's gonads.

"Are you ready to talk?" The knight was still in so much pain he could barely understand his words.

"No? Not a problem, I just wanted to test my new and improved Plague Arrow."

After a bolt of darkness hit the knight in the chest, Lith released him from the Puppet Master grip, letting him sprawl on the ground.

"One."

Before the knight could start looking for his weapon, he found himself shivering in cold, while his teeth were rattling uncontrollably.

"Two."

He ended curling up, hugging himself trying to find some precious warmth.

"Three."

Suddenly the cold was gone, the knight started sweating bullets. He felt terribly hot, like when he had been forced to stay on guard for hours under the scorching summer sun.

"Four, five."

He felt suffocating, so he tore away his shirt, gasping for air. The knight's throat was so parched that he started gulping down handfuls of snow, thanking the gods for its fresh relief.

"Six, seven."

Then it was like his blood had started flowing in reverse, all his body was coursing with pain. The whole world had become the knight's enemy. The ground hurt his skin, the snow his throat, the light his eyes. There was no safe position he could find, he could only switch from one torture to another.

"Eight, nine."

The knight's veins were full of poison, his own saliva tasted like acid. The knight started to puke uncontrollably, until nothing but bile remained inside his intestines.

"And ten! Ready to talk now?" Lith dispelled the Plague Arrow using light magic.

"Please, no more. No more! If you waste any more hours you'll play right into their hands!" The knight was barely alive, but at least had a sliver of hope. By enduring all that torture he now had a bargain chip.

"Hours?" Lith laughed.

"I killed your soldiers in what, three minutes? Barely another minute has passed since you told me about your knighthood. Even rounding that up, it make five minutes at worst. What hours are you talking about?"

The knight was shocked, that couldn't be right. He looked at the sun, searching for a proof to expose that cruel lie.

But the sun was still raising over the horizon.

"Gods have mercy, how can all that pain and misery last a minute? It seemed hours long."

"You really are stupid." Lith paralyzed him again. "It's a minute from the moment you tried to bit your tongue off. The Plague Arrow lasted barely ten seconds. Didn't you hear me counting out loud?"

"It seems that the Plague Arrow distorted his sense of time." Solus was studying the specimen's body reaction to the new spell. "His lack of mana must have allowed the dark energy to reach his brain, altering his perceptions."

Lith was on cloud nine, it was all too perfect.

"I'll ask you only a second time. Are you ready to talk?"

The knight's mind broke down, forgetting all about his vows and his honour. All he wanted was the pain to stop. Even death seemed alluring in comparison.

So, he told Lith everything. About how after being humiliated during the spring festival, Ricker Trahan had reconsidered Nana's worth.

He had understood how lacking his preparation was, and had become determined on becoming her only apprentice.

After taking the matter to his father, Baronet Trahan had explained to his stupid son the enormity of his mistake. Nana held a huge grudge against nobles, and since they had started off in the worst possible way, begging or bribing her would be useless.

The only option available was to remove the competitor out of the picture, hoping that Nana would be willing to replace one pupil with another more reliable.

The reason why they ambushed Lith was the same that prevented Baronet Trahan from coercing Nana to do his bidding. He could not afford to make her angry, otherwise the whole Trahan household would be wiped out.

Despite Nana's fallen status in the mage association had stripped her of most of her privileges and authority, she was still a member nonetheless.

In the County of Lustria she held an authority equal if not superior to that of Count Lark himself, and that meant that she was free to execute lesser nobles like them on a whim.

Nana would not even need to justify herself for such an action, just explain her reasons to the association by writing a letter. A mere formality.

That was why Baronet Trahan had sent his personal guard on an undercover mission. He had stressed countless times the importance of not creating a fuss.

Nana should never come to suspect anything.

Their orders were to make Lith drop off from his apprenticeship by intimidating and threatening him. If none of the above worked, their job was to make him disappear without leaving any trace.

"During the spring festival, Nana told me that powerful magicians are like nobles, but I never expected that she actually was such terrifying existence. Seems like my choice of becoming a mage has much more ramifications that I imagined.

Status of a noble, even a frigging mage association! All this stuff is giving me a headache. Now, what to do with this dirtbag?"

It was a rhetorical question, but Solus replied anyway.

"Disposing of the bodies would backfire on us. If we want to make this Baronet pay, we need the bodies and some proof that links him to the ambush."

Lith mind nodded. "My same thought exactly."

"Last question. Where are the leather jackets with the Trahan family crest?"

"W-we left them at home. We could not allow anyone to notice us, it would mean implicating the Baronet."

The knight was terrified. Lith's eyes were turning black, glowing with dark energy.

"Wait! The whistles! We brought along the silver hunting whistles the Baronet gifted us when we swore our allegiance to him! They bear his family crest too!"

"Thanks, a deal is a deal." Lith double tapped the knight's head with ice arrows, killing him painlessly.

He then collected all the whistles from the dead bodies, taking care of erasing the traces of his spirit magic.

"Those twisted necks and imploded head could rise too much questions. Let's cover our traces. I simply need to cut off the former and freeze the latter."

After that, Lith used air fusion to rush toward the village. Being forced to wake up Nana was now the last of his worries, he wanted revenge.

Air fusion allowed him to reach a speed of 60 km/h (37mph), so he arrived in less than two minutes, but once at the village's outskirts he had to cancel the spell.

"I can't allow anyone to see the fastest kid alive. Damn, I want those books so bad! I need to know if spirit and fusion magic are of public knowledge or still unknown. I can't risk exposing my aces in the hole unless is a matter of life and death."

Lith kept running until he could spot Nana's house on the distance, and when he saw a luxurious stagecoach right in front of her door, he pushed the pedal to the metal.

"Lady Nerea, I beg of you, be reasonable. Consider the bigger picture!"

Lith could not hear from that distance, and even if he could, he was too focused closing in to pay attention. Solus had no such problems. In the last year she had not acquired new abilities, but her senses had become much keener.

"A farm boy has so many things to take care of. Magic is a strict mistress that demands time and resources, all things that my dear son can provide aplenty."

"I'm sorry, dear Baronet." Nana's voice was polite but devoid of any warmth. Her hands were clutching so hard on her cane to turn white.

"A magician word is her bond. I'll wait for Lith all day, if necessary. And in my opinion raw talent and a sincere disposition are much more important foundations for a magician.

Things that your son is clearly lacking. Or do we want to pretend that his rude words and acts during the spring festival never happened? I may be old, but my memory has yet to fail me."

Ricker Trahan was pale as a ghost. So far, his father's plan didn't seem to work. They had spent the last half hour in a one-sided negotiation.

If everything failed, he knew that his father would skin him alive in case he didn't manage to enrol in the Lightning Griffon academy.

Baronet Trahan had invested countless resources to give his son all the books and teachers he could afford.

The idea of all that money and efforts, wasted because of Ricker's arrogant ignorance while dealing with the best magician in the County, was enough for the Baronet to disown Ricker.

"Ah ah ah! Now let's not be so hasty, Lady Nerea. It's normal making mistakes when we are young. The important is to learn from them and never repeat them.

I know that Ricker has quite a temper, and I apologize for his behaviour. I can assure you he is terribly sorry for what he did"

Ricker had never felt so humiliated. They kept talking about him like he was not there.

"Also please, consider that punctuality and reliability are very important when walking the path of magic. Yet I do not see this Lith anywhere near, while my son is right here.

Don't you think that maybe a farm boy cannot understand the privilege you are granting him? Life in the wilds is very hard on the youths, I honestly fear his parents had not the opportunity or the time to impart him a proper education.

I can understand your position, you gave him your word and knew him for so long. But I can't stand the idea of such an opportunity wasted on someone that cannot give you the respect you deserve.

Also, I can guarantee you that if you take Ricker as your disciple, I will reward you handsomely. Not to mention that in case he got admitted to the Lightning Griffon Academy, we will never forget your help and generosity.

I am ready to commit as of now that if my son reaches the greatness he deserves, he will do anything in his power to clear your name. What do you say?"

Nana snorted.

"I would like to say many things, but it doesn't seem to be necessary. The reason why you don't see him is because you are looking in the wrong direction. Lith is the panting little imp right behind you."

At those words, father and son turned around just in time to see Lith rush past them, stopping only when he was already in front of Nana.

Now that he was close enough, Nana could notice that Lith's body was covered in cuts and bruises. Some were quite deep, but had been already roughly treated with light magic. They were still bleeding, but Lith's life was in no danger.

"What in the gods name has happened to you? As far as I know the roads to the village are safe." Nana did not miss the panic flashing in the expression of the two nobles in front of her.

Lith was still bent downward, hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath.

"Was it really necessary inflicting yourself all those wounds before coming here?" Solus asked, still worried about Lith.

"No pain, no gain." Lith responded telepathically. "Coming unscathed out of a sink or swim fight, alone against five knights, would have been too suspicious. These wounds serve two purposes.

First to make Nana angry enough to do what must be done. Second and most important, to avoid any further investigation. If there's anything this mess proved, is that too much attention is bad. The higher I get, the more dangers I will have to face.

Right now, I have no backer. All that stands between my family and the Baronet is Nana. I can't protect them at all the times. It was a stroke of luck that they had to target me.

In the future I must be careful of not crossing the wrong people, at least until I get enough power or backing. I don't care about magic or wealth if I don't have anyone to share them with. No one will ever be taken away from me. Never!"

The whole conversation with Solus lasted barely for a second.

Still panting and wheezing, Lith told her about the ambush.

"When I was coming here, five horsemen tried to coerce me into giving up on my magic schooling. When I refused to submit, they tried to kill me! Thank the gods I managed to kill their leader before they got too close.

With him dead, their formation went in disarray and I managed to kill them before they killed me." Lith sniffled, covering his eyes with a hand, pretending to be fighting back tears.

"Gods, I don't know I managed to do it. It's all a blur."

Nana performed skilfully a series of hand signs before saying "Vinire Lakhat!"

A warm sphere of light magic enveloped Lith's body, healing all his injuries.

"That's enough, Lith. I can easily imagine the rest." Nana caressed his head, trying to comfort him.

"You did your best to treat your wounds, before rushing here to warn me against this scum noble." She raised her cane, pointing it toward the Baronet's face with an intimidating manner.

"Please, Lady Nerea, don't rush to judgement, I…"

"Enough with your fake sycophancy!" Nana was bursting with rage.

"Do you want me to believe that all your talk about respect and punctuality and the attack on the boy's life happening today, at the same moment, is just a sheer coincidence? How stupid do you think I am?"

Baronet Trahan knelt down, his hands on the floor in submission.

"Please, Lady Nerea, believe in my good faith. I know nothing about it. The kid is still scared and traumatized, maybe his memory about the assault is confused. Also, he doesn't have any proof. Don't take hasty decisions before considering all the facts."

The sight of his father, kneeling to a commoner, shocked Ricker deeply. Yet he kept enough of his cool to remember what was ta stake, so he kneeled too, begging for mercy.

"Good faith my wrinkly a*s! I have met enough nobles to understand how your kind thinks, and how cheaply you value a commoner's life. I think…"

Nana stopped talking, Lith was tugging her arm repeatedly. She knew he was smart enough to understand that she was fighting for him. For interrupting her like that, Lith must have had excellent reasons.

He was showing her five silver whistles, one of which had burnt marks. Nana took one and started examining it.

She barely needed a second to recognize the Trahan family crest engraved on it's top.

"Well done, Lith." She whispered. "Even in the face of danger, never let your emotions cloud your judgment. That's the way of a true magician."

She was kindly smiling at him, like a grandmother proud of her grandson achievements. Then, always keeping her back at the Trahans, she quickly performed some complex hand signs before whispering "Ekidu Ruha."

Nana's eyes briefly glowed black with dark energy.

Ekidu was root magic word for darkness magic, like Vinire for light magic or Infiro for fire magic.

She was casting a dark spell, Lith couldn't wait to see its effects. At the same time, though, the way she used the spell threw him in confusion.

"Why taking the trouble of performing hands signs and using words? Nana knows silent magic, I've seen her do it already.

Couldn't she just do it silently in front of them? I can't believe she is using a complex spell that requires that much caution just for those weaklings."

Nana turned around, poking father and son both with her cane.

"She has just hit them with her spell." Solus notified Lith. Everything had happened in an instant, without releasing even a magic spark. If it wasn't for Solus' mana sense, Lith would have missed it entirely.

"Enough with this charade. Do you want proof? Is this proof enough?"

She shoved the silver whistle in front of the Baronet's face, that turned red, then white and finally green. He had to use every ounce of self-control he had to stop himself from panic puking.

"Now get out of my sight! If anything ever happens to my apprentice or his family, even if one of them breaks his fingernail, it's you that will pay the price."

The two of them got back on their feet, running toward the stagecoach without saying a word. Lith was both shocked and disappointed by Nana's behaviour.

"So much for her hatred toward nobles. Who would have thought that after everything she went through, she would still be so merciful? F*ck!"

Nana went to the bakery, to talk to the coachman that was eating some pastries while waiting for his master.

"Hey, kid" The man was actually in his mid-twenties, around 1,77 metres (5'6" tall). He had blonde hair and a kind, perfectly shaven face. "What's your name?"

"Andy." He replied while nibbling at a cream puff.

"Andy?" Nana raised an eyebrow. "Gods be my witnesses, it's a really strange name."

Andy shrugged.

"Is actually just a nickname. Better than my real name, though. Many people found Hasa Diga Eebowai too hard to pronounce."

Nana was flabbergasted.

"Anyhow, what do you need me for, Lady Nana?"

"You seem a nice man, so here is a friendly advice. Bring your master back home as fast as you can, then find yourself a new job." She winked.

Andy dropped the cream puff like it was hot, deeply bowing to Nana before running to the stagecoach.

Nana returned to her house, opening the door to let Lith go inside.

"And now what?" He was barely repressing his disappointment. "Do we wait for their next move?"

Nana laughed heartily.

"Their next move? They will drop dead before arriving to their pompous home. What do you think that darkness spell was for? I just wanted to avoid making a fuss in front of the whole village."

Lith suddenly felt very stupid.

"Well played! This will teach them a lesson." He could finally sigh with relief.

"Far from it." Nana said with an ice-cold tone. She went into her private quarters, quickly followed by Lith.

Nana's house was really similar to Lith's, but the dining room was smaller, and instead of three bedrooms there was just one. The other two rooms were occupied by a study room and an alchemic lab.

She went in the study room, opening one of the desk's drawers with a key she wore around her neck. Nana then took out a wrapped cloth, revealing a silver amulet.

It had a nut-big gemstone in its center, with arcane glyphs engraved all over.

Lith didn't need Life Vision to know it was a magical item.

"This is a communication amulet. Every member of the mage association gets one. Now give me a minute to do a full report about Baronet Trahan's attempt on my disciple's life.

They hate when some small-time noble messes with us. Before I put this back into the drawer, their whole bloodline will be wiped out. That will teach all those damn nobles a lesson."

Lith deeply bowed to Nana, inwardly apologizing for doubting her character.

"Master, your disciple awaits your command."

The report was indeed brief. Once activated, the amulet generated a small 3D hologram of a middle-aged bald man, sitting behind a clean and orderly desk.

All Nana had to do was to introduce her disciple, say the name of the noble and the mage on the other side had already started giving instructions.

Nana gave nonetheless a short description of the facts, showing the silver whistles as proof. Lith could see from the man's expression that he could not care less about such minor details.

He still took note of everything, even somehow scanning the whistles through the amulet.

After everything was said and done, Nana gave Lith his first assignments.

"Start by reading 'The basics of magic'. Is the book you tried to borrow three years ago." Lith nodded.

"Read it carefully, if there's anything you don't understand, feel free to ask me. In case there is a client, wait for me to finish. If there's no emergency I'll answer you, otherwise you will have to wait.

You can use my study. When you have finished with the basics, I'll give you your first tier one magic book."

Lith ran back in the waiting room, fetching his prize. After sitting behind the desk, with the thick book in front of him, he could not avoid thinking back at all those years spent cramming during college.

He was back being a student, a familiar and reassuring feeling.

Lith pushed emotionalism aside, and opened the book, reading it from the author's foreword.

"My name is Lochra Silverwing. I am known as the wisest sorceress of the Griffon kingdom, and also the only one of my generation to achieve the title of Magus…"

"What the heck is a Magus? Isn't it just a synonym for mage?" Lith paused for a second, taking the mental note to ask about the magicians' hierarchy.

"… I want to dedicate this book to all my female readers, in hope that they can make good use of it and unleash their superior potential.

In a world scourged by wars waged by men, it's of the utmost importance for us women to keep our leading position in the magical field. Let our calm minds soothe the savage fury that dwells in their hearts."

"What the actual f*ck?!" Lith cursed, jumping off the chair.

He ran straight to Nana, the book still in hand, in dire need of explanations.

"Sorry to be the one to break it to you, but it's the truth." Nana chuckled.

"Like men are stronger physically, women are more apt towards magic. It's the nature of things." (see chapter 12 for more details)

"F*ck me sideways!" Lith inwardly screamed, amongst Solus giggles.

"Does this mean that I start right on the back foot?" Was what he actually said.

"Yes, little imp. Be it the Griffon kingdom, the Gorgons empire or the Blood Sand desert tribes, usually women hold most of the key roles in the various mage associations. Even I never expected to have a male disciple.

Back when I attended the magic academy, 70% of the students were female. I don't think things have changed much. If you aim for the top spots, they'll be your fiercest competition."

"Great." Lith felt dejected. He wasn't the kind of man to discriminate, he despised humans regardless of their gender. What dispirited him was the idea of being once again on the losing side of life.

"Not rich, not talented, not handsome. I even managed to be of the fairer magical sex. Just splendid." He thought.

"There, there." Nana patted his head. "Don't be depressed. History is full of very powerful male mages. It's the talent that matters the most, not the gender. One day you could even become a Magus."

"Oh, yeah. I almost forgot, that was my second question. What's a Magus?"

"The magic community is like a separate society, and just like any society it has a clear hierarchy. First there is normal people.

Anyone is capable of using chore magic, but their range barely reaches two metres (2.2 yards) and are incapable of executing any complex task. They are not even considered people. Most mages refer to them as cattle.

Then comes those like you, that can use all the six elements, can perform complex tasks with magic, but lack a proper magical education.

They are referred to as magico (males) or magica (female) and are the real grassroots of the magical community, from which mages can expect a magically talented offspring.

Even if it's considered uncommon, a magica can sometimes be accepted by a magic academy and become a full-fledged magician, like it happened to me.

A magico usually becomes a medicine man in a village or city, depending on his talent. A magico becoming a magician is even more uncommon, but far from rare.

Terms like mage, witch, sorceress, warlock are all just different words that identify someone that managed to enrol in a magic academy and complete the five years course necessary to be recognized as a true member of the magic community.

At that point, one has just to follow his ambitions. You can become the personal mage of a noble, I you enjoy life at Court. Others choose to devote their whole life to study magic or create specific artifacts.

As long as you don't do anything to contribute actively to the development of the Kingdom or the Mage Association, you'll only remain just a mage, no matter how powerful you are or what you accomplish with your experiments.

Remember, no mage can be forced to share his/her spells or discoveries in the magic field. Not even the King himself can openly violate this rule.

But what you keep for yourself has no worth for society, hence it gives you no merits.

Only by sharing your knowledge or by using it to perform tasks from which the Kingdom or the Magic Association take great benefit, you can be elevated to the status of archmage.

They are for the mages what dukes and marquises are for the nobles.

And finally, there is the Magus. A Magus is someone whose power is equal only to his outstanding merits toward the community and the knowledge he shared with the Magical Association.

A Magus usually ensures to those who come after him a deeper understanding of magic, and the means to achieve better foundations than their predecessors.

A Magus is a King to mages, and a god to men. Very rarely there has been more than one. Whenever any country has two or more Magi, it's considered to be in its golden age, everything becomes possible."

Lith was far from impressed.

"Basically, is just a fancy title that some old fogey forces on you after milking you dry. I don't know if by becoming a Magus I would feel just sad or simply lose all my self-respect."

"You insolent whelp!" Nana was outraged by such disrespect. "Without Magi like Lochra and their legacies, people like me would never get the chance to pass the entrance exam of any academy, no matter how small or insignificant.

It would remain a privilege for those with an outstanding talent, or that come from noble or magic families.

Simply by writing that book, she willingly sacrificed a great advantage she had over all the rest of her peers!"

Lith shook his head.

"I see it differently, Master. In my opinion, you do have an outstanding talent. If in the past even those gifted like you wouldn't be accepted, in the long term this would have led the magical community to dwindle, if not to completely disappear.

Being born in a wealthy or talented family only gives you more resources and schooling, but the talent is decided at birth.

Hence Lochra must have written that book not out the goodness of her heart, but to correct a dangerous flaw in the magical community. It's true that magic allows to beat quantity with quality, but there is still strength in numbers.

Without people like you, maybe even like me, there wouldn't be enough new blood, and magic would sooner or later disappear. This is the reason why I can't see her book as a gift. She needed us, and badly."

Nana opened her mouth to rebuke Lith, but stopped halfway. She pondered a while before speaking again.

"Dammit, Lith, whatever your mother fed you with as a baby, I wish I had it too when I had your age. I never looked at it from this perspective, yet I can already sense enough truth behind your words to not dismiss them as child babble."

She sighed deeply with regret.

"I wish I was so profound back in my days. I would have avoided so many stupid mistakes."

"Yeah, sure." Lith thought. "A over thirty years old man that comes from Earth and is not able to see that much would be a complete idiot. Scholarship here or on Earth are the same.

Either a way for the rich to get rid of some of their sense of guilt for being filthy rich, or the manifestation of their fears.

The fear of not having a doctor, a lawyer or any professional help when they need it. If just having an offspring would suffice for their needs, they would have closed the schools centuries ago."

The door of Nana's waiting room opened, the first client of the day had arrived.

"Time to make some money. Do you have any other questions from the foreword?" She tried being sarcastic, but was still dwelling on Lith's words, so she lacked the proper tone.

"Only one. I may need to take notes. Is there anything I could use to write?"

"But off course." After confirming that the woman and child that just entered the waiting room simply needed a medical check, Nana asked them politely to wait for a minute or two.

Nana and Lith got back to her study room, where she gave him a big, thick book with a red hard cover. Its pages were completely blank.

"This will be your first grimoire. Treasure it dearly. Paper is rare and expensive by nature. It's sold by weight, and it's more precious than silver."

Lith was stunned by such news. The book was twenty-seven centimetres (10.7 inches) long, seventeen centimetres (6.7 inches) large and three centimetres (1.2 inches) thick. It was huge.

"I-I…" Lith stuttered for the second time in his new life. "I don't know what to say. I can't believe you would do such a thing for me, it must have costed you a fortune. I'm deeply moved." A tear appeared on the back of his eyes.

Nana laughed heartily.

"Oh! Oh! Oh! So wise yet so naïve. You bet I wouldn't! Money doesn't grow on trees. If it were for me, a few pages would have sufficed, little imp."

The warmth in his heart died as quickly as it had appeared.

"Then who do I have to thank for it?"

"Count Lark, who else? That noble is a magic enthusiast, he sent it to me as soon as he was informed of your apprenticeship. Now more studying and less flapping your gums. You are here to learn magic, not to chat!"

Nana left in a hurry, hoping to avoid her waiting room getting clogged up with patients.

Lith sat back behind the desk and resumed reading. Most of the contents of Lochra's book were old news to him. He had discovered them by himself through countless trial and error experiments.

He could only sigh in regret.

"If only I had this book as soon as I was reborn. I wonder how powerful I would be today."

Whenever Lith would find something noteworthy, he would write it down in his grimoire. Lith could not trust his bad handwriting, so he would dip his finger into the inkwell and then use water magic to spread the ink on the page, and then to dry it.

The result was a whole page written with an outstanding calligraphy, even copying illustrations when necessary, in perfect English. All in just a second.

"Ah ah ah!" Lith inwardly laughed. "I don't need a secret code. I am the only one that speaks English in this world. My secrets are safe with my grimoire."

"They would be safe either way. Don't forget my pocket dimension." Solus chimed in.

"One more layer of protection never hurts. There is no such thing as too careful."

Lith found the sections about fire, water, air and earth quite bland. He already knew almost everything written in the book, but he read carefully every word.

Nana allowed him to read only until lunchtime, then he was forced to go back home and resume his previous routine, switching the hunting time from morning to afternoon.

It took him three days to get to the juicy part. Lith was aware that being a self-taught, light and dark magic were his weakest subjects. They were the only two elements that didn't exist on Earth, after all.

He spent a whole week on the light and darkness section, taking countless notes and finally understanding how shallow and rough was his mastery over those elements.

"Amazing, simply amazing. It never ceases to impress me how profound is Lochra's understanding of light and darkness. Her description of the mana flow in the patient's body is just peerless. I would have never thought of that on my own.

Only now I finally understand why she wrote about them in the same section. Light and darkness are not separate elements, but two sides of the same coin. Darkness is of paramount importance for healing diseases and congenital conditions.

Once I have fully absorbed all this new knowledge, I might even be able to cure Tista for good. If I really manage to do that, I will rethink my view about being a Magus."

Lith read that section again and again, until he became certain to have not missed anything. His magic power hadn't increased much, but his comprehension was now on another level for all the six elements.

Lith was sure he would be able to achieve even stronger foundations, also improving his spirit and fusion magic. But with his confidence, also new doubts arose.

"The more I learn the less it makes sense. How is it possible that with all this knowledge in her hands Nana didn't manage to cure Tista over the years?

Why she needed both hand signs and a magic word to kill Baronet Trahan and his son? A finger snap should have sufficed."

Lith decided to postpone those question until he had fully understood Lochra's book. Maybe he was missing some key element, or maybe it wasn't as easy as it appeared.

Nana was delighted learning that he had finished the whole book in just a week, and immediately gave him his first tier one magic spell book.

"Let's see if you are good at practicing magic as you are with its theory."

Lith took the book from her hands, treating it like a precious gemstone that could easily break. He walked solemnly to his desk, opening the book full of anticipation.

He would have never imagined to be disappointed to such a extent.

"What the f*cking f*ck is this? Is this how a spell book is supposed to look like?"

"By my core, what is this cr*p?" Solus cursed for the first time in her life.

Both Lith and Solus were too flabbergasted to make any further comment. So, they closed the book, re-opened it again, discovering it was unchanged.

They had expected for it to be filled with instructions about how to manipulate the mana flow in the mage's body, how to better connect with the world energy to obtain spells whose power was incomparable to those they already knew.

Instead all they found was an odd mix of a spelling book and a hand signs instruction manual. Not to mention that they already knew all of those tier one spells, just with different names that Lith had invented over time.

"Blasting Sphere is just a Fireball, Piercing Ice is identical to my Frost Lance, if not worse."

Lith did go back to the foreword, noticing that this book had not been written by a Magus, and was just a collection of the most common spells.

By reading the instructions for Blasting Sphere, Lith noticed how the author stressed out the importance of executing the hand signs in the proper order with precise movements.

Even the magic word was split into syllables, to help the student learn the correct pronunciation and accent. After skimming through the whole book, Lith couldn't find any mention of how to perform them with silence magic.

Becoming more and more confused, Lith went to Nana for advice.

"I'm sorry Lith, I had forgot how frustrating and painful is going from the simple and easy silent chore magic to the much more complex real magic. Only tier zero magic can be silently cast. All the superior tiers of magic require both hand signs and proper spelling of the magic word."

Lith's head was spinning so fast he had to sit down for a moment.

"This makes no sense at all." He thought. "I use silent magic with my ice spears and fireballs all the time. I wouldn't be alive otherwise."

Then a sudden thought erupted in his mind.

"Maybe I am special, after all. Maybe I use a different kind of magic because I came from Earth. Maybe I am some sort of chosen one!" Lith was both scared and flattered at the idea.

"None of the above." Solus words abruptly doused his enthusiasm.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence. Much appreciated. What's your explanation then?"

Lith could feel Solus's mind spinning so fast that it was hard for him to follow her reasoning.

"If my hypothesis is correct, then you, like Lochra Silverwing and all the other past and present Magus, are one of the few people in this world to actually use true magic."

"What do you mean with 'true magic'?" Lith said.

"At this point is still too early to tell. Off course if you are too curious you can look at my mind right now, but I don't know how helpful could it be."

Lith merged his mind with Solus, discovering she wasn't exaggerating at all. Her mind was full of 'ifs' and 'buts', constantly examining facts, revisiting memories, making one speculation after the other before dismissing them.

"What can I do to help you?"

"I need two things. First, all the books about the history of magic you can find. Second, we need to get out of here and do some experiments. I'll explain everything later."

Lith went to Nana, asking her for help.

"Sure, I have a magic history book. But is not such an interesting topic, so I only purchased one covering the last couple hundred years. Is that enough for you?"

Lith shook his head.

"Can you please contact Count Lark and ask him if I can borrow some more from him?"

"You sure are an oddball. First you beg me to teach you magic…"

"I never begged. It's you who offered to teach me and I accepted."

Nana pretended to not have heard anything and continued.

"… and now that you get an opportunity to practice real magic, you want to bury yourself in history books?"

"After pondering about what you told me and what Magus Lochra wrote, I understood that I need to understand the past to comprehend the present and plan for the future." Lith improvised, digging up an old family motto.

"Makes sense, sort of." Nana conceded. "I'll contact Lark via the communication amulet and see what I can do."

"The Count has one too?" Lith asked in surprise.

"It's not some sort of secret or anything. Nobles, merchants, soldiers, no matter your background, as long as you can afford the price, you can get yourself one."

Lith thanked Nana before returning to the study room. The book was very detailed, recording both historical turning points and lore.

Lith didn't know what they were looking for exactly, so he read carefully, skimming only the parts about conflicts between countries or Magic Associations. Instead he focused on studying the life of influential mages, archmages and Magi.

After spending a few hours researching the past, he had already found a recurring pattern in the rise of the Magi. Some were recognized as geniuses at an early age.

But most of them had started being considered mediocre at best, never achieving noteworthy results until at some point their talent simply skyrocketed.

It usually happened between the thirty and the forty years of age, well past their supposed prime, when the magical community had pretty much forgot about them.

Of course, the author had no idea of what happened to cause such a turnaround, so he just presented the theories most popular at the time. Too bad that those paragraphs resembled more a work of fiction than history reports.

According to some rumors, Magus Elista had married in secret the god of magic, while others claimed that she had found a mystical amulet from a lost civilization that was able to grant her unlimited mana.

The same had allegedly happened to Magus Morgania and Frejik. An obscure start, followed by a sudden rise in power and glory, with no plausible explanation outside fairy tales and divine encounters.

"Could this be what Solus was looking for? Maybe what changed them wasn't some insane stroke of luck, but the discovery of the 'true magic' Solus mentioned before."

Lith was about to close the book, having ran out of Magi, when Solus stopped him.

"Turn the page, please." Lith had no idea why, but did as instructed. By quickly reading through the page, he noticed it was about some disorders in a faraway place, during which several low ranked mages had died.

Solus had him flipping every page until the book ended.

It was already lunchtime, so Lith started walking back home.

"Did you find anything important?"

"Yes, I think so. I just need us to perform some experiments to put my theory to test. If I am right, once you experience the difference between fake and true magic, you'll be able to understand my reasoning.

I hope that once you do, you can help me fill the holes I am unable to explain."

Lith's mind and heart were in turmoil, the road seemed to stretch endlessly in front of him. Even when he sat around the table together with his family, he was unable to hide his unpleasant feelings.

"Dammit! Dammit all this cr*p! First my real origin, then spirit magic, fusion magic and now this? How many secrets do I have to keep to protect myself from this world, to protect my family from me?

Couldn't I just find a magical hammer or something, granting me godlike powers? Or maybe just be handpicked by an ancient magician, to become the champion of order just by speaking one frigging word? Why does everything have to be so complicated?

I really love my family, except for Trion, but I can't be honest with them. At this rate, I will never have friends, a lover, anything. I will be forced to spend my life alone with my secrets."

"No. Not alone." Solus's voice resounded in his mind, full of kindness and affection. The tower core around Lith's neck pulsed, releasing gentle waves of mana that enveloped his body like a warm embrace.

Lith's mood lightened a bit, allowing him to have a pleasant meal and conversation with his family, telling each other the respective day's work.

After doing the dishes, he was finally able to leave home and go to the Trawn woods. Lith had his own special glade, deep in the woods. A place spacious enough to train his magical skills without endangering trees or wildlife, away from prying eyes.

Lith and Solus double checked their surroundings for intruders or magical beasts. Finding none, Lith could finally take out his grimoire from the pocket dimension and start memorizing the simplest tier one spell he had found in Nana's book.

"We don't need something powerful or complex for our experiments. Only something to compare with your own spells. The faster you master it, the sooner we'll have our answers." Solus explained.

The spell was Piercing Ice, a watered-down version of the Ice Spears spell that Lith used against huge opponents like the Ry or the boars. Its magic word was "Joruna Lituh", with accents on the u for Joruna and the i for Lituh.

The hand signs required to start with the indexes' fingertips touching themselves, before pulling them away, drawing in the air a 7 with the right index while the left one had to execute mirrored movements at the same time.

After that, the left hand had to stop, while the right index had to rotate, drawing a full circle before pointing at the target.

The expected result was conjuring and shooting a giant ice shard against an enemy.

"Holy sh*t! And this is a simple one. So much effort for so little return."

At his first try, Lith managed to conjure some kind of giant fork that travelled forward for a couple of meters (2.2 yards) before crashing on the ground.

"You did not aspirate the h." Solus remarked.

Then it came a boomerang that almost chopped his head off.

"It's Lìtuh, not Litùh!"

After a series of non-life threatening failures, Lith had to admit he wasn't able to learn both the pronunciation of the magic word and the hand signs at the same time. So, he had to sit down and recite the spell until he got it right.

After that, he had to face head on his poor hand-eye coordination.

"That's not a seven, more like a one. Do the second line steeper!"

"You are supposed to draw a circle, not an egg!"

"Will you stop your left hand during the last movement, please? Otherwise we'll never see the end of it."

Failure after failure, Solus kept nagging in Lith's mind, correcting the many mistakes he did during each try.

"If you are so good, why don't you do it yourself?" Lith rebutted, bursting with frustration.

"Sorry, I do not have a body. Not to mention I cannot perform any spell unless a) you first know how to do it and b) you give me the permission for it."

It was a long afternoon for Lith, full of cursing, sweating and casting, not necessarily in that order, before he finally managed to get Piercing Ice right.

He kept repeating the spell until it became a second nature to him.

"I can't believe I had to work so hard for the simplest spell. I have barely an hour before the sunset. Hey, Solus is it enough time, or do we wrap things up for today and go back home?"

"Is more than enough. Tell me, how does it feel using magic that way?"

"To be honest, it does not feel at all. I'm so focused on all that cr*p that I can barely breath."

Solus mentally nodded.

"Perfect. Now cast your Ice Spears spell, shooting only one spear."

Lith was so tired to need to actually use the magic word.

"Jorun!" With a flick of the wrist, Lith conjured a slender, sharp ice javelin that struck the nearest tree faster and harder that the Piercing Ice.

"Now focus, how did you do it?"

Lith couldn't understand all those apparently stupid questions, but he trusted Solus enough to know she wasn't just trying to piss him off.

"Like usual. First, I mentally visualized the effect of my spell, things like the shape of the spear, the trajectory, etcetera.

Then I used my mana core to generate enough mana to support my spell, taking in account the size of the spear I wanted to conjure and how strong I wanted it to strike.

Finally, I projected my mana on the outside, mixing it with the world energy to have access to the water element and voilà! Order up."

"Okay, now use Piercing Ice, again. This time do it slowly, try to feel how your mana flows according to the spell."

Lith needed a few tries before succeeding in the task Solus had assigned him, the result was astonishing.

"What the heck? As soon as I start with the hand signs, a portion of my mana leaves my body. And there is more. The magic word determines how my mana interacts with the world energy, in this case the water element, while also giving the spell its shape and size."

Lith could tell that if Solus had a face, now she would have had a smug grin from ear to ear.

"You are almost at the finishing line. Do Piercing Ice again, but try making the ice shard bigger."

"I can't." Lith was flabbergasted. "If I try adding more mana the spell becomes unstable and dissipates."

Solus asked him to try generating a second ice shard, then to make the single shard faster and finally to alter its trajectory right after it materialized. Lith's answer was always the same.

"I can't. The whole spell is set in stone. Once I learned the proper signs and pronunciation, I became nothing more than a mana source and a targeting system. My mana core and imagination play no part in this type of spell casting."

Lith suddenly reached enlightment.

"And that's why you consider it fake magic!"

"Calling it fake magic is a little extreme, but for simplicity's sake let's call it that."

Lith could sense Solus brimming with pride.

"Now I can finally share my theory with you. First of all, I'd like you to think back about all the steps necessary for you to use true magic."

Solus paused for a moment, giving Lith time enough to think.

"What's your point?"

"My point is that what you so casually dismiss as 'usual', is actually a really complex feat, much harder than fake magic."

"Hmmm. Sorry, I still can't follow you."

Solus mind-snorted in frustration.

"True magic isn't as simple as you make it out to be. It requires to be aware of your own mana core and to be able to generate the right amount of mana for each and any spell. Too much mana and it would backfire on you, too little and it would not succeed.

It also requires to be able to project your mana outwards, reaching out to the world energy by yourself. I doubt even Nana would be able to do that."

Lith found that last part hard to believe.

"When you put it that way, sure, is not an easy feat. But is what everyone does with chore magic. What's the difference between true and chore magic? Why no one else uses it?"

"The difference is in the amount of mana required. Chore magic needs little mana, so you can use it even without activating your mana core, while true magic may require great amounts of mana, according to what are you trying to accomplish."

Seeing as Lith was struggling, Solus started to use a monotone, lecturing tone.

"Chore magic is the very foundation for magic, it teaches you everything you need except how to activate the mana core. Fake magic is like a crutch, a foolproof 'magic for dummies' spellcasting method.

You only need to learn a few words and gestures and it does everything by itself, as long as you have enough mana. My hypothesis is that chore and fake magic are taught in this order as a training course towards true magic.

But only few, like the Magi, understand that fake magic is not about finger movements and spelling words, is about perceiving the mana flow and learning how to control it.

Your breathing exercises are a crutch as well, but a good one, since they helped you accessing the mana core, making you aware of the mana flow. Fake magic, instead, is a bad one, since it makes its users too reliant on its power.

Most fake magic users are so obsessed by details like hand signs and pronunciation, that live their whole lives without noticing what lies beyond. Fake mages, especially those with great talent, become so complacent being able to do what no one else can, that they never stop for a moment to ask themselves why. Is kind of ironic."

Lith was astonished. Everything made perfect sense.

"But if you had all this figured out, why didn't you tell me? What are those holes in your theory you mentioned earlier?"

Solus was embarrassed, but replied nonetheless.

"Because I can't answer some key points of my own theory. If I am right, why is fake magic the only one available for everyone? Why true mages kill whoever tries spreading it to the whole world?"

"Say what?!?"

Solus merged their minds, showing to Lith all the things she had noticed reading the history book. How so many theorists and rising mages had all died in accidents or mysterious circumstances, often right after announcing to the magical community a ground-breaking discovery.

Others, instead, would be dismissed as frauds, before going mad and disappear.

Lith could only laugh his heart out.

"Oh, my. Solus, you are so smart and yet so naïve in the ways of mankind. The answer is really simple. Do you know why back on Earth we had traffic jams? Because everyone could get a car.

Would you really let any madman, any naïve fool gets his hands on this kind of power? Fake magic is a mean to control the masses, it's not the final test like you think.

After one discovers true magic, the final test is proving to be smart enough to silently join the club and reap the benefits. And if you don't like the club rules, the only way out is death."

When they finished comparing notes about Solus' explanation for true magic, it was already late. Lith had to rush to get out of the woods before it became too dark. He wasn't afraid of night time predators, his mother Elina, though, were another story.

"If I come back too late, I'll get grounded for weeks. Darn it all, I hate curfew so much!"

He did not want to come back home empty handed, so he took out of the pocket dimension a couple of fat blinkers he had saved for moments like that.

The next day, Nana informed Lith that the Count had agreed to help, and that some of his best books were on their way.

Lith was forced to pretend being still engrossed in Nana's history book, it was too big to finish it in one go. He spent that day abridging all the tier one spells on his grimoire, keeping only the name, hand signs and pronunciation instructions and a short description for each spell.

"I don't need to waste precious pages on this cr*p. I can fake out the hand signs by moving my hands fast, but I still need to remember each new magic word when I pretend to use fake magic.

Also, if Nana wants to put me to test, I need to show her my proficiency. Sigh, all this brainless memorizing will drive me crazy. The silver lining is that by learning this stuff I can predict an enemy's spell and counter it if necessary."

More than once, Lith found himself wishing Solus could move his body at will. She had a much better memory, and it would save him a lot of time and effort.

The only spell Lith was really eager to try was the air magic Floating Body. With this incantation one could make float in mid-air anything or anyone weighing less than one hundred kilograms (220.5 pounds).

It had many uses, like braking a free fall, moving a severely injured patient without bumps, or moving without leaving traces and making noises while hunting or on scouting.

This was something that Lith had attempted many times on his own but with no success. He could easily make others float with spirit magic, but not himself. It was really hard balancing his whole body while focusing on the spell, the same could be said about using air magic instead of spirit magic.

A minor mistake would make him float upside down or make him spin like in a washing machine. Lith never managed to float properly, let alone moving.

"If Solus is right and fake magic is a training course, I can use this Floating Body to learn how to float for good. Then, the most natural step is evolving it into a flight spell. I can't wait to soar through the skies like my childhood heroes!"

Right after lunch, Lith went back into the woods and started practicing. Floating Body's magic word was "Brezza Ri Lak", so he had no problems with pronunciation. The hand signs, instead, were quite complicated.

Having learned from his mistakes, Lith first made sure he had got the magic word right before moving to the hand signs. He took it slow and easy, he didn't need to learn how to fast cast it, only to learn from the spell how to distribute the energy.

After only a few tries, Lith managed to cast the Floating Body properly. It was an odd feeling, much different from what he had expected.

To float it did not require a single strong updraft, but hundreds of them at the same time, each one pushing upwards with the same force to keep the balance in check.

"This is much worse than I had anticipated. No wonder I always failed in the past. Now, according to the book, Floating Body makes me weightless, standing in place. To move I need either external support or air chore magic."

Lith started to generate weak winds, moving around like a toy drone.

"This feels great! This spell has countless applications, I wonder why it's just a tier one despite being so elaborate."

"Because it lasts only one minute" Solus reminded him while Lith was already falling to the ground.

After experimenting with Floating Body a few times, Lith used his own mana flow to replicate the spell. Soon it became apparent that he wouldn't be able to do it in a single afternoon. True magic, after all, was really more difficult than its fake counterpart.

Angry and frustrated, Lith started grumbling non-stop.

"It's all so annoying, having to learn two kinds of magic for every damn spell. I'm telling you, Solus, I have seriously considered using Floating Body instead. But if I am stupid enough to do so, then I would be forced to learn all its upper tier versions, and who knows at what step lies actual flight.

This way, instead, once I get some solid foundations, everything else should come easy. Or at least I hope so."

Lith spent all day and night practicing his new spell, Levitation, but when morning came, he had yet to succeed.

The following day, a small crate of books was delivered to Nana's house, and she promptly handed it to Lith.

"If they were mine, I would never allow you to bring them out of my house. But the Count explicitly told me you are free to bring them home as you see fit. Lark is a very generous man, don't abuse his trust."

At first, Lith was really pissed off. He had completely forgot about his plea from help, and now he was flooded with useless books that he had to pretend to read. After two whole days as a shut in, his body was craving for some action.

But then he noticed that there weren't that many history books, most of them were biographies and autobiographies of past and present prominent mages, archmages and Magi. He finally had at hand the information he needed about how much talent he could reveal safely.

Lith could finally see a light at the end of one of the many tunnels he was stuck in. So far, his apprenticeship had only added more problems to his life, getting lucky for once, made him feel really good.

He took note in his grimoire of all the feats his role models accomplished and at what age they managed to do it. Then it came the most serious part, deciding how far to push his act.

"I'm of humble origins and with no backer. Mimicking a Magus is like courting death. If even revealing less talent than Nana brought a noble to try to kill me, showing so much skill would put me on the hit list of all the major families."

"Agreed." Solus chimed in.

"The best choice is to keep being below Nana's talent. If Count Lark starts protecting you, you can ramp you up to her level. A male mage of that skill would definitely be noteworthy. From then, is better to adjust your power talent based on how things develop."

"My thoughts exactly." Lith mind nodded.

During the following weeks, while at Nana's house, Lith and Solus split the tasks at hand. Lith crammed all the tier one spells while Solus would read the Count's books and take note of every relevant detail.

Lith gave her control over both spirit and water magic, making her possible to flip books and write an appendix on the grimoire.

During the afternoon, instead, they would try to make Levitation work. Little by little they were working out all the problems, sometimes even improving Floating Body foundations.

Lith completed Levitation after over a month of hard work, and by that time he had also already mastered all the tier one spells, but he was forced to wait. According to the Count's books, that was a feat worthy of a future archmage.

So, he had to wait for another half a month before revealing to Nana the fruits of his endeavours. She was truly impressed by Lith's skill and determination.

Nana had told him that back in the day she had needed less than a month to memorize all the book, and despite Lith being of lesser talent, he had managed to accomplish the same result with just two weeks of delay.

Nana had expected that it would take him no less than two whole months.

Nana offered him to help her during the busy hours, and Lith gladly accepted. Until completing Levitation he had not hunted for over a month. Not only the reserve of game he kept in the pocket dimension was almost depleted, but that huge break had also costed him a lot of money.

Lith needed to make up for the lost time. Officially he only knew two tier one light spells, Vinire Rad Tu (the illness/injuries detecting spell) and Vinire Dan, a basic healing spell, capable to treat coughs, light colds and not too deep cuts.

Hence, most of the times he would only get the diagnosis fee, since it would be Nana treating the patients. He could only get to heal minor injuries, yet his profits weren't that bad.

Nana's business had deep roots, people from all the neighbouring villages would come to seek her aid.

By spending more time in the front office, Lith discovered that Nana was so much more than a healer for the people of Lutia. She was also their protector and the strongest law enforcer.

Simply by living there, most bandits would avoid the village, and those who were brave enough to attack would quickly meet their maker before doing any real damage. Nana was also the shield for all the local merchants and population.

No foreigner merchant, young master or young mistress could bully the people of Lutia without incurring in her wrath. Sometimes she would be called even to put an end to a drunken brawl.

Lith found hard to believe she had such disposition toward the people she served, always standing ready to intervene whenever was necessary.

One day, after Nana taught a lesson to a young noble and his bodyguards, believing that he could forcefully take any maiden that suited his taste, Lith decided to find out the truth.

The old hag had already proven that she cared about money more than everything. Lith had fallen for her kind act more than once, so he wanted to know what her real angle was.

Being rude to his mentor was definitely a bad idea, so he went with a subtler approach.

"Master, I really don't know how to express my admiration for you. Taking care of the safety of the village, basically all by yourself, and asking nothing in return. It's really impressing of you."

Nana laughed out loud, sounding ominous like the plumber, back on Earth, that once Lith had been forced to call during a national holiday.

"You really are hilarious, kid. Sometimes you are so wise I almost forget you are just six years old. But whenever you come out with this nonsense, you really look like a naïve child. Off course I get something in return. Have you ever wondered why my treatments are so expensive?"

"Actually, yes. Many times. But I always thought those were the normal fares for a healer." In the moment he said it out loud, Lith remembered how ignorant he was in the ways of the new world.

"They are not." Nana shook her head. "Listen, little imp, in a few years you are going to get out of this village and face the world. Not everyone is kind as your parents, and most nobles are not like Count Lark.

For the average person life is hard, most of the time unfair, and hard work means nothing without luck and opportunity. I don't tell you this because I want to scare you, only because I don't want you to make my same mistakes.

You need to wise up, so let me tell you a story. Once upon a time, a mage fallen from grace decided to return to her old village, to settle in and forget about her failures. At first, people were scared of her, thinking she would abuse her power and authority to settle old feuds.

But the mage was too tired and bitter for petty revenges, she only wanted peace. So, when she became a medicine woman, doing nothing but tending to the ill and wounded for a fair price, the villagers were really happy

And when they noticed that since her arrival brigands, merchants and nobles treated the village with much more respect, they became ecstatic. But bad things kept happening from time to time, since the mage had no interest in playing hero.

So, the people in the village offered her a deal. They would pay her a certain sum in exchange for her help. Everything was perfect, and everyone was happy for a while. Then, the villagers, the only ones whom benefited from her protection, decided to make a little change to the initial deal.

Sure, peace and quiet were doing wonders for business, and the presence of the mage brought so many people from the neighbouring villages to get treatment, but that sum each year was a burden to their profits.

Not even the fact that the County's most important noble had made the village the permanent seat for the local spring festival was enough to satiate their greed.

So, they decided to convince the local farmers that it was in their best interest to help the villagers cover the sum they had agreed to pay to the mage. You may ask how did they managed to do it. Well, let's just say not appealing to the goodness of their hearts.

They simply threatened the farmers to change the exchange rate of their goods to the point of making their life a living nightmare. And what could the farmers do about it? Nothing.

They needed the blacksmith for their tools, the merchant to buy and sell cattle and crops. You can easily imagine the rest. Without the villagers, the farmers were cut off from the rest of the County.

By refusing, every single farmer would have to travel for days, each year, even to buy a new plough. Not to mention how hard and perilous would it be moving the cattle and the crops to the nearest merchant, all while leaving family and fields unattended."

Lith nodded, a ferocious expression on his face.

"Let me guess. According to the new deal, every time the farmers needed the help of the mage, they would pay a share of the agreed sum."

"Just like everyone else." When Nana had finished her story, she, could read the rage and disgust in the eyes of her disciple.

"There, there, Lith. I didn't mean to make you angry, the purpose was to show you what normal people, even good people, do to each other on daily basis.

We are good friends and all, but that is until our pockets or families get involved, then one own's priorities come first.

Life is hard for everyone, but for mages is even worst. Normal people see them as monsters, nobles as something to submit or exploit.

But the worst comes always from your own. Even in the magical academy you will find hidden ranks, hierarchy, and the competition will be tougher than you can imagine.

The pressure both families and teachers put on those poor kids quickly turns them into ferocious beasts. They get measured, judged and looked down upon for every mistake they make.

Social status, wealth, talent, the more they have the higher the expectations for them."

Lith was starting to get confused.

"So, do you want me to go easy on them? To don't judge hastily? To try making friends rather than enemies?" He was inwardly scoffing.

"Gods forbid it! The very opposite!" Nana yelled in desperation, flapping her arms like a hysterical bird.

"I already told you, you need to wise up. Don't fall for the first nice act someone performs. How do you think they will treat a dirty poor country bumpkin?

How do you think they treated me? At first you will easily make friends with the students from the lower classes, but as soon you'll reveal any talent, you'll be surrounded by only two kind of people.

Those who want to destroy you and those who want to suck up on you. Stay away from the former, and ever further from the latter, otherwise you'll end up like me.

Naively believing to have lots of important friends, until you make one single mistake, and then they pile up on you like everyone else, leaving only scorched earth around you." When she finished talking, Nana looked really tired and bitter, staring at the floor with watery eyes, she seemed to have aged about twenty years.

Lith pondered for a while on her words, before giving her his answer.

"I appreciate the thought and will treasure your words forever. But I also hope you'll understand that your story kind of pissed me off big time. So, here is my plan for the immediate future…"

When Nana finished listening to Lith's idea, she laughed heartily, going back to her old snarky self.

"That's what I am talking about. Good boy! I'm finally starting to rub some good sense on you. You have my permission, but do it only in my absence, it would be bad for my revenue otherwise. If anyone complains or tries to do something funny, I'll cover for you."

In the following months, Lith had to prove time and time again his magical skills as a healer, before Nana gave him a tier two spellbook to learn from. This allowed him to expand his official skillset and be recognized by the people of Lutia as a true healer.

Lith was finally able to enact his plan.

Nana wasn't always at her home office. Sometimes she had personal business to attend to, but most of the times it was because she had to do house calls for patients that cannot be moved.

During those times, Lith was in charge of everything. Those who could afford to, would wait for Nana to return. Lith was still six-year-old after all, he didn't seem trustworthy enough to put someone's life in his hands without Nana's supervision.

But emergencies couldn't be planned, so there was always someone desperate enough to come for his help. His first real patient ended up to be Lukah, Rizel's youngest brother (see chap 21).

He was just a toddler, so his mother, Lisa, had a terrified expression when she brought him in. Lukah was crying desperately, his left arm purple and swollen, bent in an unnatural angle.

Lith hadn't even finished pulling the curtain to give them some privacy, that Lisa laid Lukah on the bed and started to beg for Lith's help.

"It's all my fault, I'm so stupid. I was cradling him in my arms, while preparing lunch, when he started squirming and fell. Can you please help my baby?"

Lith quickly waved his fingers into a "Vinire Rad Tu!" A small wisp of light danced around the baby before penetrating his chest. The light spreaded to all his body, becoming dimmer around his chest and left arm.

Immediately after, Lith faked a "Vinire Lakhat!" Guided by his willpower, the light magic first dulled the pain, then it made the bone fragments reattach themselves to the ribcage and the arm.

Lith used his Invigoration breathing technique on the baby, using the imaging it provided him to make sure that the bones were perfectly healed and aligned before interrupting the spell.

"He had a broken arm and cracked ribs, but now is as good as new." Lukah was still crying, but now he was moving both arms, his skin pink and with no traces of bruises.

Lisa sighed in relief, thanking Lith with a deep bow before handing him the money.

It was Nana's usual fare, four copper coins. Enough for a family of four to eat well for one day.

Lith took only two, what she would have paid without the village protection tax. Seeing that she was confused, Lith whispered:

"I know about the deal with the villagers, and I am not Nana. I protect no one. Also, us farmers need to stick together, am I right? Please, keep your lips sealed about it, otherwise the next time I will be forced to ask you for the full price."

Lisa was chocked, her eyes watery. She did not know what to say.

"Then can I ask you to check my leg too? It hurts from a while, and the pain is not getting any better over time."

"Is that how the little Lukah managed to slip away?" Lith asked.

"Yes. A few weeks ago, I took a bad fall while repairing a hole in the roof. At first it didn't hurt much, and with a baby we could not afford a visit for every small thing."

Lith used Invigoration again, using the injury detection spell as a cover.

"Holy cr*ap, her leg is badly cracked. It's a miracle she was still able to walk without a limp."

After healing her, Lith was conflicted about taking the rest of the money. He could see Elina in her, all the sacrifices his family had made just for keeping Tista alive were always vivid in his memory.

Lith couldn't avoid empathizing with the daily struggles his neighbours had to face every day, perceiving them as real persons, like him, instead of dismissing them as trash, like he always did with those he killed in the past.

Luckily Lisa took the choice for him, handing the money and opening the curtain before he could say a word.

"What a proud woman, truly deserving my respect. Next time she comes, I'll perform the healing while checking up the wound, so she won't get to pay."

Those four copper coins were the heaviest Lith's hand had ever held. Lisa's family would have to skip a meal or two to cover for that expense.

From that day onward, Lith would do the same thing for all the farmers, always prompting them to silence. Soon his reputation grew wildly outside the village's borders.

Inside those same borders, though, things were quite different.

On another occasion, when Nana had been called away, another kind of patient walked in. It was Renkin, merchant and richest man in the village, barging in while carrying his son on a makeshift stretcher, with the help of one of his assistants.

"Nana! Where in the nine hells is that wretched healer when you really need her?!"

"She is away at the moment." Lith moved forward, making way for the stretcher. The boy was around fifteen years old, his black hair stood out on his pale face. He was bleeding from his leg, despite the wound was tightly wrapped up.

"Where is she?" Renkin yelled.

"The men repairing the Colen bridge had an accident, she will be back on the afternoon at best."

"You idiot, can't you see my son is dying? I do not have that much time!"

Lith snorted in annoyance.

"If you have to yell and be rude, that's the door. If you want me to take care of him…" Lith extended his right hand, while pointing with the left at a sign on the wall that said: "Payment up front. No refunds."

"Paying you?! What are you, four?"

"Almost six and a half. Again, if you aren't going to pay, make space for real clients. If you want miracles, feel free to pray. But do it outside." Lith's tone was stone cold.

"Okay, okay!" Renkin gave up. "Here is you goddamned four copper coins."

"Eight." Lith stopped him before he could take the money out of his pouch.

"That's clearly a deep wound, requiring two tier two spells, if not even a tier three. Either way the price is set to eight copper coins." Lith pointed to another sign, stating the prices:

"Check-up: 1 copper coin. Tier one spells: +1 cc. Tier two spells: +3 cc. Tier three spells: +7 cc"

"But those are Nana's prices! You are not Nana!"

"Really?" Lith mimicked his Master's snarky tone. "What gave me away? The age? The height? The gender? You are really perceptive, worthy of a merchant."

Renkin was choking on his own anger. Such an arrogant little brat!

"I meant that you shouldn't ask so much! Didn't your Master tell you about our agreement?"

Lith just pointed to the end of the second sign, where "No discounts, ever" was written in big bright red words.

"Don't you have a heart? How can you ask so much? You are so young and inexperienced, after all!" In all his years as a merchant, Renkin was proud to have never overpaid any product. He was determined to get a discount at all costs.

"I could argue that I don't think you ever gave a discount to someone just for pointing out your age or likeability.

Also, which one of us his bargaining on his son's life? I doubt all healing magic in the world would do him any good once he bleeds out."

Finally remembering about his beloved Garth, Renkin finally paid the fee, letting Lith do his job.

"What happened?" Lith asked after using Vinire Rad Tu coupled with Invigoration, sensing a deep cut wound that missed the femoral artery by an ich.

"This blockhead and his idiotic best friend had the brilliant idea of practicing their swordsmanship with real swords, that's what happened."

"He lost a lot of blood." Lith said after completely healing the leg. "Keep him at rest and make him eat rare meat."

Later, that day, when Renkin returned to complain to Nana about her disciple, she laughed hard in his face for a whole minute, before shutting her door in his face.

Two more years passed, Lith was now eight years old. During that time, he had mastered all the spells contained in Nana's books, which brought his official skill set up to the most common tier three spells.

Books about superior tiers were extremely expensive, and Nana had no interest in acquiring them. She had her own grimoire, after all. The books she bought over the years were mostly for display, to show her clients what they could purchase.

But while his skill in fake magic stagnated, Lith used those years to deepen his understanding of true magic. His grasp on its profoundness and foundations had improved greatly.

By practicing true magic every day as a healer, he had gained such fine control on both light and darkness magic that he had finally acquired the necessary skill to permanently get rid of Tista's congenital condition.

The problem was that despite all his efforts, his mana core was not strong enough to perform the treatment Lith had devised.

During those years he had used Assimilation whenever he could, making his mana core going through multiple cycles of expansion and compression, turning it from deep green to bright green.

But it was still green. Lith's impurities had yet to reach the mana core, and until that happened both his mana and body would not undergo through qualitative changes.

He had reached a bottleneck, and had no idea how to overcome it.

Solus too had changed quite a lot. She was no more limited to her pebble form, but could actually turn into any shape while retaining the same overall mass.

That allowed Solus to take the form of a smooth stone ring, that Lith wore on his right middle finger.

When she asked him why a ring on the middle finger, Lith replied with an odd short poem related to a green ring of power. It was something related to his childhood, of which he was really fond of.

Along with some of her power, Solus had also regained a new function, something that Lith called Soluspedia. It was another pocket dimension, but specifically crafted for books and any means to store knowledge.

All the books that Lith stored in the Soluspedia, he could consult with but a thought. For example, by storing his grimoire he didn't need to memorize anymore the magic words and hand signs for the fake magic spells he had learned.

Lith still had to practice the hand signs and pronunciation, but he only had to think about what he needed to remember everything up to the smallest detail. The same applied for maps, herbals and bestiaries.

Lith had given almost everything he had earned as a healer to his family, allowing them to have a much easier life and accumulate a decent dowry for Rena and Tista.

Whatever he kept for himself, he would use to buy the most detailed compendiums he could find about the most useful topics, like law, court etiquette and even a vocabulary.

As long as they were in the Soluspedia, Lith knew them inside and out. What made him inwardly gloating, was the fact that he could buy even those items that were almost crumbling or defective, resulting to be highly perishable.

That wasn't a problem for him. Just like for the pocket dimension, they would be frozen in time, and hence potentially last forever.

After his eight winter ended, Lith received a call from Count Lark on Nana's communication amulet. The event took him by surprise, the Count had never contacted him before.

Having had plenty of video calls and job interviews on Discort and Skope back on Earth, he was familiar with that kind of meeting. Lith bowed deeply as a salute, while cupping his fist.

"Dear Lith, you are always so polite. No need for all the formalities, you are among friends now." Count Lark had a convivial and friendly demeanour, making him seem more like an uncle calling his nephew rather than a Lord.

"Count Lark, to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?" Lith looked at Nana, standing beside him, in search for approval. She nodded while staring at the magical hologram of the Count.

"You have accumulated quite some merits, I wanted to know if you plan on using some of them." Merits were something that anyone who contributed to the welfare of the kingdom would receive and could be exchanged for privileges or commodities.

A convict could have his sentence shortened by serving in the military and earning merits, a farmer could get more land for free, a scholar could get a recommendation for a government job.

"Merits?" Lith was taken aback. "I didn't do anything to earn such things."

"Quite the contrary, dear Lith. Every year I receive hundreds of commendation letters from the farmers and their families, about the outstanding job you are performing as a healer."

Since Lith had started to give treatments for half the price to the farmers, they would wait for Nana to leave the village before going to get medical care. Nana knew it and did not care.

They still needed her for the emergencies, and the house call extra fees covered whatever profit she may have lost.

"A letter counts for earning merits?" Lith asked, still confused.

"One letter, no. But dozens, hundreds of letters all about the same person for a prolonged period of time, off course they do. Do you have anything in mind the kingdom can help you with?"

Lith pondered for a while, while accessing the law book in Soluspedia. More land was suicidal, his family was already stretched thin, and they cannot afford hired help.

The kingdom would not trade merits for money, but Lith could still get the next best thing.

"Do I have enough for my family to be exonerated from taxes this year?"

Count Lark dropped his monocle from the shock, the mouth ajar.

"Taxes? Your family still pays taxes?"

"Yes, we are law abiding citizens, your lordship." Lith was almost as confused as the Count, but with a better poker face.

"I'll flay my accountant alive!" The Count jumped off his chair, his face red from anger.

"I told that incompetent fool to exonerate your family since the day Lady Nerea took you under her wing! I swear to the gods, I'll fire that man with such bad references he will never find another employer."

Lith tried to calm the Count down.

"Maybe is for the best. I'd prefer to be exonerated because of my merits, rather than for being a magician in training."

The Count sat back down, a perplex expression on his face.

"Why? The result is the same, and you would get to keep your merits for future needs."

"It may seem just a matter of semantics but is not." Lith explained.

"If my family gets exonerated, sooner or later it will come out, and what happens next will depend on the reason why we got it. If it is because of my status, in the eyes of the community it would be an unfair privilege.

That could generate envy and grudges, and in such tight community it could prove to be toxic. Help and support from the neighbours are of paramount importance for a farm, and I will not stay there forever.

If we get exonerated because of my merits, instead, it would be something that the community has bestowed on me, as a sign of gratitude for my good deeds.

Being able to somehow repay their benefactor, would make them feel happy, and prevent them from harbouring ill feelings."

During all the explanations, Lith was inwardly crying out of joy, congratulating himself about purchasing the vocabulary.

"I can finally talk like I used back on Earth. The inability to express myself correctly has always been such a burden." He thought.

"Magic is indeed the supreme form of art." Count Lark nodded in agreement. "Only a magician can be so wise despite being so young. I am honestly impressed."

"A dragon whelp is still a dragon, after all." Nana chimed in. "The boy is not only wise beyond his age, but also is blessed by the light. He is talented enough to have already invented his own light spells.

Lith's skill as a healer is almost at the same level I had back at his age, and he even created some cosmetic spell for his sister. She has the fairest skin I have seen in my whole life. This is just between us, off course."

Lith was smiling and nodding, but he was actually scared to death. Nana seemed to have seen through some of his deception.

"Wonderful! Just wonderful!" The Count jumped off his chair out of joy, losing once again his monocle. "Thanks for your trust, Lith. I will keep your secret with me at all costs!"

After the call ended, Lith stared at Nana, unable to express his questions out loud. She laughed out tauntingly as usual.

"Don't be so shocked, I'm a mage too, after all. When some of your patients came back for a second opinion, after describing me their injuries, I was bound to discover the truth. Some of those wounds were supposed to be beyond your skill.

As for your mother and sister, you just overdid it, little imp. Whatever you did, made them too gorgeous. I commend you for doing it slowly and over time, but whoever knows a thing or two about magic would suspect something.

As for the Count, he too would notice, once Rena first and Tista later take part in the Spring Maiden contest. Or do you think he has acorns instead of eyes? It's better to play it this way. Lark is an honest man, the best noble I have ever met.

If he thinks he has your trust, he will do his best to uphold it. You are still his precious pet project, after all. I doubt he would risk to lose everything he has invested so far for such a trivial matter."

Lith could do nothing but agree.

"Master, you do not trust anyone, do you?"

Nana snorted.

"I barely trust myself. Besides, I am the only one who always fought for my best interests."

Lith bowed deeply, his fist cupped.

"Master, your disciple thanks you for your guidance and help. I will take your words to heart."

In the following days, Lith could not stop blaming himself for making such stupid mistakes.

"Dammit! Always so full of myself! I need to stop thinking I am always the smartest in the room. I can't keep screwing up on the small details, in the long run it could be prove to be fatal. Having such a bitter and cynic Master is a blessing in disguise.

We are basically two peas in a pod. She still suspects nothing, and I have to keep it that way. Having her by my side can help me grow as a mage and protect me from my own stupidity at the same time."

Aside from that, Lith's family got exonerated from the annual fees thanks to his merits, and as he predicted, that caused only joy and happiness in the neighbours. It had happened thanks to them, after all.

It was a slow day at Nana's house office, when two hunters barged in, bringing on their shoulders two more hunters, covered in blood.

"A magical beast!" The hunter in the lead shouted. "A magical beast is rampaging through the Trawn woods! Please, you have to save my men. That monster almost ripped them apart"

The people in the waiting room made space for the hunters, while Nana and Lith quickly dismissed their previous patients, leaving the beds free for the wounded men.

They were so desperate, that no one complained about Lith's age or diminutive stature. Before any of the two hunters could say anything, both healers spoke as one.

"Close the curtains and let me do my job."

They performed "Vinire Rad Tu", but rather than to find the cause of the affliction, which laid bare in front of their eyes, it was meant to check if there was a sliver of hope saving them.

Lith didn't even had the time to activate Invigoration, before noticing that the woman was already dead. He tried nonetheless, but there was no mana flow to manipulate, no life force to enhance with light magic.

"I'm sorry." Lith said closing the dead woman's eyes. "She was already dead before you got here."

Before he could continue with his bedside manners, Nana yelled to him.

"Get here, quick! We can still save this one if we work together!"

Lith rushed to the other bed, positioning himself at the man's feet while Nana moved behind the head. They both needed space to operate at their best.

Nana was right, Invigoration could still feel a mana flow, despite it being weak. The hunter's wounds were very deep, Lith doubted that fake magic could help him.

Fake healing magic would spread to the whole body, before focusing on the injury, and that caused it to need a few seconds to take effect. Even worse, the spreading and focusing process would cause the spell to lose some of its effectiveness.

True healing magic, instead, would directly affect the wound. Thanks to Invigoration, Lith was also able to pinpoint were to send the light mana with surgical precision, maximizing the potency of the spell.

"Nana's specialty is not light magic, after all. If she called me, it means that she hopes my personal spells can save this man."

For a moment, Lith hesitated. He would have loved to have the time to ponder about the risk reward ratio of that scenario.

He couldn't care less about the life of a stranger, he was much more scared of exposing his secrets, losing everything in the process.

"Screw it! Sooner or later I'll have to reveal my spells. I want to believe in Nana and give all this 'blessed by the light' cr*p a go. Play scared, die scared."

Lith started performing quick hand signs, mixed with ninja hand seals he remembered from an old movie. He had prepared that choreography since the last conversation with Count Lark.

"Vinire Eskla!" The light magic flowed straight through the hunter's blood vessels, repairing them and stopping the blood loss. With Nana keeping his conditions stable, Lith was able to bring the hunter to the point where fake magic could save him.

After that, he had to lean against the wall and slide down to the ground.

Lith was exhausted, he had never attempted something that required so much focus and mana for a prolonged time.

"Damn my stupid green mana core! If it was already cyan, maybe I wouldn't be forced to leave halfway through the procedure."

Luckily, Nana took all the credit for the success, relieving Lith from any possible questioning about his unknown spell.

After taking her forty copper coins, she warned the hunters' leader.

"He is alive, but barely. I don't know if he will make it or not. I can't even assure you a full recovery. His injuries were too deep, we did the best that we could."

"Forty copper coins, almost a f*cking half silver coin and that's all you have to say? A bunch of ifs and wishful thinking?" He yelled.

Nana clearly understood that the man wasn't really angry with her or Lith, he still could not accept the loss of one, if not both of his friends.

Yet she did not care.

When it came to anger, Nana was second to none. She had been the scapegoat for others' misbehaviour enough to last for a lifetime.

"Listen to me, young man, and listen well. I dare you find any village that hosts not one, but two healers capable of casting tier three spells!

If you want certainties, go find Krishna Manohar, the god of healing! He lives in the White Griffon Academy, just five hundred kilometres (311 miles) from here! And now get out of my house, before I make you!"

Even a grieving man knew that to further antagonize a mage whose eyes were brimming with power and whose voice generated wind blows was plain suicide.

The two surviving hunters could only comply.

While Nana was clearing the blood spattered around the room, Lith had managed to use Invigoration enough to recover some of his strength, so he followed them outside.

Trawn woods was too close to his house for comfort.

"Sir hunter, please wait!" They were already halfway toward the tavern.

The hunters' leader really wanted to vent his frustration on the little pest, but he had regained enough of his cool to admit that the kid was blameless. If anything, he had contributed saving the life of his little brother.

That and he was still scared sh*tless by Nana.

"No need for honorifics, young man. My name is Ekart Longran, and this is my sworn brother Flek Irotia."

"My name is Lith." The three men bowed to each other.

"The man whose life you saved is my little brother, Otum Longran. If I can do anything to return the favour, you just need to say the word."

"Could you please tell me more about this magical beast?"

Ekart shivered for a moment, his eyes closed by the fear that memory generated in his heart. But he was a great hunter, who had danced with death countless times. With every passing second, he was recovering both his courage and spirits.

"It's a huge Byk, do you what it is?"

Lith nodded.

According to the bestiary in the Soluspedia, a Byk was a bear that had evolved into a magical beast. They were in tune with earth magic, in rare cases also with fire magic.

"It all started around a month ago. The farms on the east side of the Trawn woods were being attacked by a mad beast. At first it would just slay some cattle, before returning to the woods.

But then that harpy of Baroness Rath put a huge bounty on the Byk, in hope to avenge his mad son. She believes he has fallen prey to the beast months ago."

"Rath." Lith thought. "The name sounds familiar."

"The psycho that tried to rob you of your bunnies." Solus reminded him.

"And that was the beginning of the end. After slaying some wannabe hunters, lured by the promise of easy money, the Byk got a taste for human flesh. From that moment, it started to hunt down his pursuers with elaborate traps.

When we understood how smart the Byk is, it was already too late. We managed to get away only because he was too engrossed in his last meal to chase us."

Lith bowed again.

"Thanks. I live near the woods, and your information may have just saved my family. Consider your debt settled."

Before he could turn around, Ekart grabbed his shoulder.

"I have been long enough in the business to recognize a fellow hunter when I see one. Listen to my advice, don't' go after it. That beast is unnatural. Not only is smart and cunning, it also moves at unbelievable speed.

No matter how fast you run away or chase it, it keeps switching places, li-like a ghost. I know it sounds stupid, but I believe it to be a vengeful spirit."

Lith thanked him again, before going back to help move Otum in one of the tavern's rooms and to clean the blood on Nana's house floor.

When he finished, Nana handed him twenty copper coins, half the fee.

"Go home and rest. You really are talented in light magic, but that spell is too draining for you. Use it only in case of emergencies."

Lith nodded, but before going back home he needed to purchase some things. He kept discussing the matter with Solus the whole time. Facing such a monster without more than one plan and enough preparation was idiotic.

After warning Selia, he spent the whole day resting and using Accumulation. In a life or death situation even a small power up could made the difference.

That night, he slept for the first time in two months. Lith wanted to be at his peak condition, he wasn't willing to take unnecessary risks. He woke up before dawn, leaving a note for his parents.

He then wore his brand-new leather hunter set, with metal protectors for the forearms, shins and heart, his last line of defence in case everything else failed. Once outside, after checking there were no witnesses, he casted the Soaring Hawk spell and took flight.

The Trawn woods was too big, and moving on foot was too slow. Using both his Life Vision and Solus' mana sense, he started looking for his prey, while moving near the top of the trees.

It didn't take long to find it, the Byk wasn't even trying to hide. Lith could trace it thanks to the bear claw marks on trees and rocks, until he found it eating a deer.

"So much for smart and cunning. How the heck can it still eat? It should have filled his belly many times already." Lith thought. "Nevertheless, let's see if I can kill it nice and easy."

The Byk was on the ground, while Lith was in the sky, the distance between them about 30 metres (33 yards), well within the spirit magic's range.

Lith sent a huge wave of mana, meaning to snap the Byk's neck in one go.

The Byk instinct was sharp. Even if it was still unaware of the new hunter, it could feel that something was off.

It infused his whole body with earth magic, so when the two mana flows clashed, the spirit magic was diminished to a neck rub.

"F*ck my life! Again with that sh*t, just like the Ry."

"It seems that magical beasts are able to use fusion magic to some extent." Solus commented.

"No duh, Sherlock. And what's worse is that fusion magic is spirit magic's bane. It can disrupt my mana flow making it useless. But that stands only for direct attacks…"

Having his first plan failed, Lith hid behind the tree while moving away from the Byk. Casting spells in mid-air still required too much effort, he also wanted to keep his ability to fly a secret from the prey.

Once on the ground, he took a roundabout path toward the Byk, using Float to not make noises, and a subtle dark aura to cancel out his smell and aura.

When Lith found the Byk again, it was still sniffing the air, looking at its surroundings.

Lith moved right behind its back, before unleashing a lightning as big as the crouched Byk.

It had no effect, aside from angering the magical beast and blackening some of its fur.

"Holy sh*t! I would have never suspected that earth fusion could shield from lightning."

The Byk roared its challenge, standing tall on its legs.

It was an enormous beast, at least four meters (13 feet) tall, with a weight close to a ton. Its fur was deep brown with shades of green, and its green eyes were staring at Lith with malice.

"Too big for comfort!" Lith summoned a strong wind, hoping to take advantage of that unstable position to topple the Byk and prevent it from charging ahead.

The Byk channelled even more earth magic, becoming heavier while digging deep into the ground with its claws. It managed to return back on its four, now standing 1.6 meters (5'3") tall at the shoulder.

"Magnificent display of earth fusion!" Solus couldn't hold her admiration. Lith was the same, but much more scared.

"Yeah, I'm clearly a noob compared to it. Ice Spears!"

Countless spears of ice appeared out of thin air encircling the Byk. Each one was two meters (6'8") long, ten centimetres (4 inches) thick and razor-sharp.

It was Lith's sure kill spell.

The spears came down at the same time, like a deadly rain.

The Byk didn't seem scared, though. It roared again, getting partially up on its legs, before slamming the front paws on the ground, creating a spherical shielding made out of earth and rock.

The spears crushed against the summoned barrier, inflicting no harm to the Byk.

Both Lith and Solus cursed as one.

"F*ck me sideways! Magical beasts use true magic too!"

Lith's and Solus minds were spinning at full gear, but for entirely different reasons.

"What if magical beasts are the primordial true mages? What if human mages learned true magic by watching the magical beast hunting, like Chinese martial artists derived their moves from Earth's animals?" Solus pondered in amazement.

"What the F*ck can I do? I just revealed my trump card for nothing and my fusion magic is useless, since if that thing closes in, it needs only one hit to rip me in a half. Not to mention that air, earth and spirit magic would probably be useless against it.

I am only left with light, dark, fire and water magic!" Lith trembled in fear, but his body was ready to move, his mind never giving up on life.

The Byk charged through its own shield, intending to make things up close and personal. Lith reacted promptly, using air fusion to gain speed and keep their distance in check.

"You may truly be immovable as a mountain, but you sure can't keep up with someone fast as lightning!" Yet the two enemies' speed was the same. The Byk was indeed heavier, but the difference in physical prowess was enormous.

Not to mention, they were both slowed down by trees, rocks and undergrowth.

Lith felt reassured noticing that the Byk couldn't close in, since he could still resort to fly as a desperate measure.

"Unbelievable speed my pale a*s! This thing is fast, but not that much. Ekart and his men were either too scared or hallucinating."

The game of tag went on for a while, with Lith throwing ice spears whenever he could spot an opening, and the Byk using rock projectiles trying to shoot him down.

Lith knew that bears weren't supposed to smile, but on the Byk's muzzle he could clearly see a smirk, sometimes even emitting a "Hurr, hurr" sound.

"Is that a laugh? Is that b*stard actually just having fun?!"

While running, Lith moved the fight to his private clearing. He had finally found a path to victory, but he needed to have both hands and legs free, without worrying about tripping on roots or pebbles.

Also, the river Philo flowed nearby, greatly enhancing his water magic. Not having to conjure it anymore, Lith could focus only on the manipulation aspect.

The Byk moved forward slowly and triumphantly. It knew the prey was now cornered. In front there was only the raging river, while the Byk was plenty capable of cutting off any other escape route.

But soon it noticed that something was off. Not only the smell of fear was gone, the prey had ceased to run, standing firm with the river at his back, watching the Byk's every move with defiant eyes.

The Byk slowed down even further, trying to suppress its overbearing bloodlust and looking again at the surroundings. Suddenly it remembered about all those dangerous ice spears, realizing it was a trap.

But it was too late, it had already got too close to the river. Tendrils of water grabbed its legs, trying to drag the Byk in the water. The Byk reacted promptly, making tendrils of earth envelop his legs and body stopping the water in its tracks.

It knew it could not play only on the defensive, so it fired a barrage of stones against the prey. Lith didn't move and inch from his spot, either dodging the rocks, or using his own earth magic to deflect those he could not avoid.

It soon became a war of attrition, about whose mana would run dry first.

After a few of such exchanges, Lith infused himself with fire and earth magic, performing a roundhouse kick to send a huge stone back to the sender.

The Byk didn't miss that anomaly. The prey had never done such a thing, it was clearly a deception. As soon the stone come near enough, the Byk deflected it with a flick of a claw, using earth magic to avoid touching it.

That way it noticed that right behind the rock there was a dense black mass, Lith's Plague Arrow.

The Byk followed its instinct, and tried to dodge that slow bullet, but its own tendrils of earth were keeping it stuck in place! Before the Byk could summon any sort of magical protection, the Plague Arrow had hit his mark straight in its huge chest.

Pain started blinding the Byk, that became unable to notice Lith closing in while shooting six more Plague Arrows. The first to the chest, again.

The easiest target to enhance the crippling pain. Then he followed striking the four limbs once, to prevent the Byk from fighting back.

The sixth and last one to the head, almost at point blank, for the kill.

It all happened in barely three seconds. In that very short lapse of time the standstill had turned into a victory for the prey.

And that saved Lith's life that day.

As soon as the Byk let out an agonizing cry, a second one, even bigger came out rushing from the woods.

"It wasn't fast! There were two of them! That's why they could play with the hunters like a cat with a mouse."

Lith used air fusion to stay away, keeping the distance the same he previously had with the other Byk.

Luckily the second Byk didn't seem interested in pursuing him, and started to lick its partner affectionately.

"From its size, it should be a male. The only notable difference is that his fur has shades of black instead of green. No wonder the hunters weren't able to tell them apart." Solus observed.

"You better make use of this time to replenish your mana. We don't know what it's capable of."

Lith immediately used the Invigorating breathing technique, letting the world energy replenish his lost mana and washing away his fatigue. Thanks to the good night sleep, Invigoration effect was at its peak, and it would not take Lith long to recover.

After all, his body was in perfect condition, only his stamina and mana had been consumed during the fight.

"Filthy human! How dare you kill my spouse?!" The Byk spoke.

Lith had no time to be surprised, so he kept his breathing rhythm steady, aiming to stall as long as he could.

"Wow, you talk! I didn't know bears could talk."

"Lowly maggot! I'm not a bear! I'm Irtu, the new king of the woods, and she was my queen, Gerda."

"Sorry, your majesty, but if you wanted to live happily ever after, you should have respected my turf. I don't care what you do on the east side of the woods, but the west side is mine! Not to mention that I know a Ry that could refute your claim."

"A Ry?" Irtu moved away from the carcass, putting enough distance from the river to be safe from the man pup tricks. "You mean that weakling! The mutt is as good as dead." Irtu grinned while slowly moving forward.

"Don't come any closer!" Lith ordered. "If you leave now and promise to never return, we can close it here. Otherwise one of us will have to die."

"Hurr, hurr, hurr." Irtu laughed. "You will not die, murderer. I will just rip off your legs and arms. Then I'll follow your scent back to your burrow and will devour your family alive, in front of your eyes. Only then we will be even!"

Lith dropped the act like a live grenade.

"I never intended to let you walk away alive from here. I only had doubts about how much make you suffer. Thanks for clearing them up for me."

"Such arrogance for a weak man pup! I will not fall for your trickery, like my poor Gerda. I have watched the whole time. The only reason you are still alive is that she loved so much playing with you vermin, before biting your head off!

It's all my fault. I shouldn't have indulged her so much. If I had killed you back then, she would still be alive!" Irtu roared, getting even closer.

Lith had already fully recovered and some more.

"If you want so bad to apologize to her, let me send you to the other side!"

Despite all his provocations, Irtu remained calm and collected, always keeping a safe distance from the waters.

"He is too confident, I have a bad feeling about this. Why does he keeps advancing despite what happened to the other Byk?" Lith fought back the temptation of using all the extra mana from the world energy in one go, limiting to a single Plague Arrow.

Instead of dodging it, Irtu stood up on its legs, laughing cruelly.

When the Plague Arrow hit the Byk's heart, Lith could see thanks to Life Vision that instead of attacking its vital organs, the dark energy was being assimilated by Irtu's core.

"Hurr, hurr, hurr. Did you really think to be the only one that have mastered dark magic, maggot? Now die!"

Irtu jumped forward, and before Lith could take advantage of its inability to dodge in mid-air, four rock formations abruptly erupted from the ground, right were Irtu's paws were going to be.

That way the Byk was able to jump forward once more, his speed further increased by the four rock's borrowed momentum.

In less than a second Lith was robbed of his opportunity to counter attack, while Irtu had turned into a one-ton bullet.

To evade the attack Lith had not only use air fusion, but also to roll forward. The Byk was too fast for a real dodge, his only option was to pass under it.

After that point, things got worse. When Irtu landed, instead of creating a crater, the ground stretched under its legs like a trampoline, allowing it to resume the chase without a second of delay.

"What the f*ck?! You can do that with earth magic?" Lith bit his lower lip hard, cursing his own ignorance. He was a self-taught after all, the only knowledge he had about true magic was what he discovered experimenting by himself.

Clearly the Byk was a natural at magic, and had refined its mastery over earth through the years, aptly adapting it to best suit its hunting techniques.

Making a split-second decision, Lith kicked the ground with his left leg while using all the mana he could to infuse himself with earth magic, boosting his defence.

Thanks to the clean cut in his previous trajectory, Lith got only grazed on the chest from Irtu's claw. Yet it was enough to rip off his chest protector and graze the underneath skin.

Lith instinctively used light fusion to stop the bleeding and gain a healing factor.

The mid-air strike had messed up the Byk's tempo, so after the second jump it was forced to stop.

Lith used that moment of pause to activate Soaring Hawk and take flight. The opponent was clearly superior, he had almost run out of options.

"No escape!" Irtu roared, shooting a rain of rock debris against him.

Lith mimicked Gerda, using air instead of earth to generate a fast spinning barrier that deflected the sudden attacks. Yet his flight was interrupted, and he started to fall down.

Irtu grinned, getting up on its back legs, ready to catch him. He could already feel in its mouth the crunchy taste of the prey's limbs.

Lith was almost out of options. Almost.

From that angle, Irtu could not notice that Lith's right hand was now holding something, removing the stopper with a snap of the thumb.

At the last second, Lith stopped in mid-air with Float, while the substance in the flask kept falling and hit Irtu right on the head.

Suddenly the Byk was blind, his eyes burning like fire. A strong smell inundated his nose, making him sneeze and rendering it unable to sense Lith presence anymore.

"When I bought this horrible perfume, my idea was to use it to make a Byk lose my traces in case the worst happened. I never expected being forced to resort to such a gamble. Luckily Irtu does not know about Solus, nor her pocket dimension."

The flask materializing out of thin air was something unconceivable for the magical beast, taking it by surprise.

Irtu was still roaring in pain, the paws rubbing his eyes, when he got stabbed from all sides.

Thanks to the river, Lith's Ice Spear spell needed just a split second to strike.

Lith waved his hands non-stop, sending a barrage of spears until Irtu's corpse was so riddled with holes that he could see through it. And even after that, he sent another one piercing its head, right between the eyes.

"I always hated how in horror movies no one ever makes sure that the frigging monster is really dead, only to get backstabbed during the credits."

"You took a huge risk there, pretending to have lost control of the flight spell and going into free fall." Solus had objected to that last-minute contingency plan from the second Lith devised it, deeming it too reckless.

"What if the Byk impaled you with a rock spear? What if instead of waiting for you to come down, it had jumped to finish you off?"

"That would have been merciful. Irtu was too cruel to do such thing."

Lith replied without hesitation.

"It wanted me to feel despair and helplessness, to be conscious while it ripped me apart. In some ways we were quite similar, both hell-bent on revenge and inflicting pain to our enemies.

The only difference between us, is that I would never allow my bloodlust to drive me crazy. Gerda and Irtu were a threat to my family. That's the only reason I came here.

I prefer giving my enemies a painless death, even making Irtu's pelt worthless, rather than taking the smallest risk that they could harm one hair of my beloved ones."

Lith had just collected the two magical beasts' carcasses inside the pocket dimension, when his body started trembling in pain. A familiar hot sensation rising from his mana core.

"Not here, not now!" Lith inwardly screamed. "Until it's over, I will be a sitting duck!" He knew that it was impossible to hold back the impurities refining process until he was back home.

He had no choice but to offer no resistance, making it as fast and painless as possible.

Soon, black ooze started being excreted from all his pores and orifices. Lith's eyes and throat were burning from the nasty feeling the impurities inflicted on their way out.

Lith felt like a river of bile was coming out of his body.

When it finally ended, he was kneeling, hands on the ground. A huge puddle of the tar-like substance was below him, tainting the air with its putrid smell.

"Congratulations on evolving your mana core to deep cyan!" Solus voice was full of joy.

"You also should have lost at least a kilogram or two (2.2 or 4.4 pounds), judging from how much impurities you expelled this time. I can already feel the quality of your mana flow improving. My meals have never been so tasty!"

"Deep cyan?!" Lith coughed up some impurities that got stuck in his throat.

"All these years, the hard work, even risking my life against not one but two consecutive magical beasts, just for the worst cyan core possible?" He couldn't help but feel depressed and frustrated.

"I'm still below Nana's level, and she was born with that core! If she practiced my breathing techniques, there's no telling how strong she would be. She could probably already topple mountains and split the sea."

With a pulse of dark magic, he banished all the impurities into nothingness.

"Look at the bright side. Thanks to the break through, you should finally be able curing Tista. Isn't that what you wanted from the beginning?" Solus tried to console him the best that she could.

At that thought, Lith's mood lightened up immediately.

"You are damn right! Sometimes I am just a self-centered a*shole."

"Sometimes?" Solus sarcastically remarked.

"Okay, fine! Most of the times I let my hunger for power get the best of me. Happy now?"

Solus giggled.

Despite having yet to use Invigoration, Lith could already perceive the world around him more vividly than ever. The colours, the smells, the sounds everything was different. It was like being born again and experiencing the world for the first time.

Still feeling light headed, he splashed the river's cold water on his face, trying to regain his focus.

Suddenly, Lith could feel a shiver on the back of his head, his neck hair suddenly standing up.

Lith abruptly jumped back on his feet, turning around to discover that a Ry, the very same Ry from two years ago was silently walking toward him.

It had become bigger, its height at the withers reaching 1.6 meters (5'6"), and its red fur had gained shades of white, dancing in the sunlight like a wildfire.

Just trying the Soaring Hawk spell almost made Lith faint, so he was forced to cancel it while using Invigorate to regain his strength once again.

Yet Lith's mana core was still unstable after the evolution process, and therefore unable to assimilate more world energy.

"F*ck my life! I can only escape on foot."

Sniffing his stress and fear, the Ry spoke up.

"Fear not, Scourge, I mean no harm. On the contrary, I have come to give you my thanks. It was my duty stopping Irtu and Gerda, but you managed to precede me."

It threw a magnificent deer he was carrying on its back at Lith's feet. Both the skin and the antlers were in perfect conditions, aside from a single bite mark on the neck, where it had been cleanly broken.

"I noticed you humans prefer them like this, since after eating the meat you can exchange the rest for those things you call 'money'."

Lith didn't feel much reassured, he decided to keep stalling while he was catching his breath and searching for the best possible escape route.

"So, you can talk too, uh? Why didn't we have this conversation two years ago, instead of fighting?"

"Stop eyeing for an escape route. If I really wanted to kill you, I would avoid useless talk and strike when you are at your weakest. I am not arrogant and cruel like Irtu. I would not make the mistake of underestimating you again.

As for your question, it was you that attacked me first.

Also, do you know what happens when one of us speaks? Either the human faints or runs away. In both cases, they come back in numbers, even setting the woods on fire trying to kill us all."

The Ry growled at that unpleasant memory.

Lith relaxed a bit.

"Yeah, humans get scared easily. They think themselves all high and righteous, and don't like when someone or something they don't recognize as an equal threatens the status quo.

By the way, sorry for the sneak attack, but you were big, scary and destroying something really precious to me."

A light of understanding lit in the Ry's eyes.

"You mean the annoying rock that now you wear at your finger, I see. Then it's my turn to apologize for damaging your property and trying to kick you out of the woods. I only wanted the noise to stop, and you ceasing your attack."

"If I have to believe your words, why do you call me Scourge? Isn't that kind of offensive?" Lith kept moving, very slowly, towards the fastest way home, one step at the time, like he was just shifting his weight from one foot to another while chatting.

The Ry snorted, pretending to not notice it.

"It's no offence. You killed the king in the west, and with its life you claimed its title as well."

"That would make you the king in the east, I suppose. What's your title?" Lith moved another step.

"The Protector. My role is to keep both humans and unruly magic beasts at bay."

"It has a much better ring than mine. By the way, your majesty, I am not interested in kingships or messing with your turf. Feel free to take over Irtu's region or whatever it's called. I only hunt for my survival, not for sport or pleasure."

"And that's why you are still alive." Seeing that the human was too self-conscious about his weakened state, the Ry gave up and turned back, walking towards the woods.

Lith was still scared, yet had the presence of mind to store the deer in the pocket dimension. As soon as the magical beast disappeared from his sight, Lith ran out the woods, always making Solus look out for any possible menace.

Once outside, he changed into his usual clothing, deeming the claw rip on the chest too unsettling for his parents.

The closest he got home, the weaker he felt. The adrenaline rush was fading away, his body and mind were both battered from all that had happened. A splitting headache arose, making difficult for him to think.

When Lith finally arrived at destination, he was too tired to speak or even walk to his bedroom. He sat down on the nearest chair, sighing in relief, allowing himself to relax.

The next thing he knew was that someone had put him into bed, and judging from the lighting it was already night. He closed his eyes, pondering about what to do next, and when he opened them again it was already dawning.

Tista and Rena were still asleep, Lith decided to get up and prepare the breakfast for everyone, following his normal routine. It was in that moment that he realized how much had he changed overnight.

Not only his body was brimming with strength, he could also perceive his own mana flow without the assistance of any breathing technique. Lith needed but a thought to start floating, managing to get out of the bedroom without making the wood creak.

What had required so much focus just the day before, now barely needed his attention.

"If a tier one spell has become so easy, what about chore magic?"

Lith discovered that now he was able to use up to six spells at once, without the use of any gesture or magic word to help coordinate them.

Soon many small vortexes were cleaning every nook and cranny of the dining room, the air in the room getting warmer by the second, while plates and cutlery floated in their place.

By the time the table was laid, he had also finished washing and drying the floor.

"I have performed in less than a minute what usually took me half an hour! I have still a lot of time before having to wake everyone up. Solus, how do you feel?"

"Now that I know you are all right, just peachy. But since you were referring to my abilities, instead of my feelings…" From the tone she was quite pissed off.

"…both the Soluspedia and the pocket dimension have started expanding since your mana core stabilized."

"And what about you?"

"Thanks for asking without any subtle hint from my side." The sarcasm was palpable. "I am still recovering from the huge scare you gave me yesterday, but I'll live."

"I'm sorry, I know you wanted me to escape from Irtu and not take unnecessary risks, but I couldn't run away and live in fear, waiting for him to find and attack my family.

I have lived too long in terror of my father, back on Earth, to let the same thing happen again. I hope you can understand."

Wanting nothing more than change the subject to escape that awkward silence, Lith asked:

"What about Gerda's carcass? Can we take credit for the kill or would it arise suspicions?"

"There is no problem for Gerda, history is full of promising mages, even younger than you, killing a magical beast. Since there is no way to determine how strong it was, you can say that you ambushed it successfully.

Irtu, on the other side, is more problematic. Not only his pelt is useless, making him only good for racking up merits, but its corpse shows signs of a spell that should be around tier four or five, if not above. I'd say to save it for rainy days."

After deciding what to do with the various carcasses, Lith used the remaining time to practice Accumulation, while thinking about how to announce to his parents the treatment he had devised for Tista.

Among all the things he had gained since arriving in the new world, his family's happiness was still the greatest prize he could strive for.

Author's note: I do research my stuff, but please remember that this is a work of fiction, not a medicine textbook. If among you there is some nit-picky doctor, please be nice and cut me some slack. Enjoy your read.

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Lith spent the next few days familiarizing with the changes in both his body and mana core. Healing with true magic was much different from the on/off effects that fake magic used. Not to mention that the procedure for Tista required surgical precision.

So, he used his new job as Nana's assistant to master once again his mana flow. Lith also personally reported to Count Lark the slaying of the magical beast via Nana's communication amulet.

He gave the Count the chance to buy the perfectly preserved pelt, but for that the he needed to get in touch with Selia. Lith had no idea how to tan and preserve such magnificent fur, and neither did he know how much was its worth.

So, he had been forced to turn to the huntress for help, and Selia had accepted in exchange of 25% on the final price. The same fate befell the deer carcass.

Lith's goal was to improve his relations with Count Lark, by earning merits for both of them.

Through their confidential agreement, Lith would achieve merits because he had eliminated a threat to the County, while the Count would take the credit of the kill, being the one that had discovered Lith's talent and claiming to have entrusted him with the task.

According to the law book in Lith's possession, a noble would get great fame and honours, according to how his subjects performed.

While they would get merits, the noble would improve his social status and importance to the King's Court, raising his chances of achieving one more title with all the lands attached to it.

It was a perfect win-win situation.

Lith hoped to reel in Count Lark among his official backers. Having him has a patron was not enough. Being the Count a magic enthusiast, Lith was just one of the many talented youths he was sponsoring and nothing more.

Lith wanted their relationship to develop further, so when he finally could leave the village, he would have someone to rely on.

If there was one thing that he had learned from Nana's story, was that a country bumpkin like him was in desperate need of someone trustworthy in an influential position.

Count Lark was obviously thrilled at the idea that one of his proteges had achieved such a result. His hopes for Lith being accepted at the Lightning Griffon Academy skyrocketed, after so many failures, another success was on sight.

It would further raise the Count status in the eyes of the Court. Killing a magical beast was good, but finding and developing the talent of a powerful mage was much better. Mages were the backbone of the Kingdom, together with the military.

After settling his business with Count Lark, Lith had Solus help him completely rethink his concept of magic.

"So far I used magic just like a club, to kill and hit. But Gerda and Irtu have showed me that magic, in this world, it's not fixed as in Dungeons & Looting. I have been too narrow minded. It's not only light magic that can act at cellular level.

All kinds of magic can interact with matter, changing its properties. If Irtu could make the ground elastic, then I should be able to walk on water without freezing it first, by altering its density. I need more advanced spellbooks to understand magic's limits.

It's no wonder that Magi's talent increases exponentially after discovering true magic.

Not only they start with a better core than mine, so they can refine it to further heights, but they also become capable of replicating every single spell they saw until that point

While inventing a new spell takes a lot of time for a fake mage, finding the right balance between hand signs and magic words to obtain the desired effect, a true mage just needs to understand the underlying principles behind a spell to perform it."

Thanks to his battle with the magical beasts, Lith was able to quickly develop new spells, by either imitating their tactics or experimenting by himself.

After about two weeks, his body, mind and mana core were perfectly in tune, so Lith asked Rena to go to the village with Trion, giving him the opportunity to freely talk with his parents and Tista.

Trion and Lith were now in a more neutral relationship, there were no hard feelings left, but no trust either.

Lith had to dumb down a lot the concepts to make them understand the risks of the procedure. He was not a doctor, but they were his parents, and Tista was their beloved daughter and his beloved sister.

Lith would not proceed unless getting their informed consent, or at least the next best thing, since they understood very little of magic and nothing at all of anatomy.

"How sure are you about this thing?" Asked Raaz, holding Tista as tight as he could, like Lith was going to take her away.

"I'd love to tell you that everything will be alright, but I can't. I never tried something so big and complex. Tista, I worked years to develop this spell, just for you. The only thing that I can promise, is that I will give my best.

I obsessed myself nights and days with it, because I want you to be free and happy like anyone else, instead of being stuck in a cage, be it your body or this house, no matter how golden we can make it.

I want you to be able to run in the wind, walk in the snow. To get out of this house, to meet people, make friends, maybe someday fall in love with someone and being loved back.

I will do all I can to free you from these shackles, but I can't do it without your trust and consent."

Lith looked them in the eyes, one at a time, to show them his resolve and determination.

Tista escaped her father's arms, hugging Lith tight.

"Oh, Lith. When you talk like that you sound more like dad than a little brother." She said crying.

"Off course I trust you. You have always been by my side, taking care of me, even when I could do nothing but stay in bed all day. You worked so hard, giving me so much.

Food, clothes, you even invented the rocking chair for me (AN: is actually a swing. See chap 17 for more details). Mom, dad, I want to do it. Whatever happens, I could never regret having trust in my little brother."

Without saying a word, Raaz and Elina joined her in the embrace, all of them sobbing together, even Lith, so fond of their bond and so scared to lose one of them at the same time.

After Lith calmed down, he could finally start. On paper, the treatment was simple. By using Invigoration's real time imaging of Tista's body, Lith would use light and dark magic in synch.

Dark magic would destroy the damaged cells that composed almost half of Tista's lungs, while at the same rate light magic would enhance the healthy cells' ability to multiply, instantly replacing the lost organ tissue.

But even with his limited knowledge in medicine, Lith could see many underlying problems. The destroyed cells would release toxins and impurities in Tista's system, and if they accumulated too much she could die of shock or organ failure.

Also, regenerating a vital organ like the lungs was a delicate process, that would consume lots of her strength, and she hadn't much to begin with.

So Lith had decided to take things slow, treating only a minimal part of her lungs to begin with. Then he would use his control over her mana flow to expel from her body all toxins and impurities the dead tissue would release, and give her some time to recover before attempting another session.

During all the process, he took care of her eating and resting properly, to the point that Lith skipped hunting and magic training, only keeping his job with Nana to have a steady source of income while Tista was resting.

The whole procedure took over a month, but thanks to all his painstakingly efforts and meticulous bordering anal-retentive preparations, everything went well.

In some respects, even too well.

After the treatment, Tista's mana core had gone from light orange to yellow, and according to Solus, it kept evolving over time.

"Seems your sister was quite talented, but her illness prevented her core from properly grow."

"That's good." Lith nodded "As soon she completely recovers, I can bring her to Nana to learn magic. That way she will be able to learn a trade and achieve a social status on her own. What comes next depends entirely on her."

"Won't you teach her true magic?"

"That would be idiotic. She is just ten years old. If there's really some sort of global conspiracy and control over magic, that would mean putting her in danger. She deserves to finally have some fun. To live instead of just surviving.

I won't drag her into a beehive unless that's what she wants."

Lith made sure that everyone in the family understood the importance of keeping Tista's recovery a secret. Lith was still a no one, if the rumour spreaded, nobles or other mages could hunt them down to get their hands on the procedure.

Despite they regretted being forced to keep Trion in the dark, they accepted wholeheartedly. None of them was stupid enough to endanger such a hardly achieved happiness just for bragging.

Since according to Nana there was a chance for Tista of healing by herself with her growth spurt, they decided to stick with that version and claim it to be a miracle of nature.

Lith had got to the point of developing a spell to alter the results of Nana's Vinire Rad Tu, so that when she checked on Tista she would still appear ill, but slowly improving. This time he would not slip on the details.

Tista had to put up a façade every time Trion was around, but she soldiered up bravely. Being sick was a second nature to her, sometimes she even fooled Lith and her parents with her acting.

But whenever she could, she would walk with Lith through the Trawn woods, going together at his secret clearing where she could finally be free to run, swim in the river, sing and dance at her heart content.

Lith didn't regret even one moment spent with her instead of practicing magic or refining his mana core. Those things were of secondary importance to him.

He had started practicing magic only because of his hunger for power, to put this new world to the test before committing suicide again. But then he had fallen in love with his new family, and magic had become a tool instead of a purpose.

And that purpose was laughing and jumping around, in front of his eyes.

Lith couldn't and wouldn't hold his tears.

"Wherever you are, Carl, I hope with all my heart you too have found someone to love and to protect. I love you, little brother, and no matter how distant we are, you'll always be with me."

A few months later, Lith received an invitation from Count Lark, to join him for a day in his manor as his esteemed guest.

The whole thing happened in an odd fashion. Lith received a letter instead of an holo-call, and despite being addressed to him it was delivered at Nana's house.

Being the host, Nana took the liberty of reading it before handing it to him. She was just concerned for Lith's wellbeing, off course.

The letter said in a perfect penmanship:

"Dear Lith,

Thanks again for slaying the monstrous magical beast. You have served the County of Lustria and deserve to be rewarded accordingly. To this end, I would like you to join me in my manor in ten days since receiving this letter. We have much to discuss. I urge you to contact me as soon as you can via Lady Nerea's communication amulet.

Count Trequill Lark."

"What does this mean?" Lith asked Nana.

"It sounds so serious to be ominous. It doesn't even seem something a joyful and spirited person like the Count would write."

"Hmmm." Nana nodded, eager to avoid the outrageous accusation of being nosey.

"I can smell good news and bad news.

The good news is that isn't anything serious. Despite the somber tone, worthy of a payment order, Lark used a letter, this means it's nothing urgent or important, since he could afford to wait for the delivery and the reply.

The bad news is that all the above stinks of formality and etiquette. I fear that you are in for a whole day of boredom, while attending all the official business regarding your prizes and whatnot. As I always say, little imp, no good deed goes unpunished!"

"That's my line!" Lith inwardly screamed. "Not only you open my mail, you even steal my shtick?"

Even the following holo-call was awkward. Count Lark was uncharacteristically calm and composed, managing to not make any question about magic to Lith, nor losing his monocle, not even once.

After hearing that Lith had accepted his invite, he stated that his personal tailor would stop by later to take Lith's measurements, and that he would send his stagecoach on the set date, one hour after dawn in front of Nana's house.

Then, the Count politely but promptly ended the call, saying he had many things to attend. For Lith was like talking to a complete stranger.

The tailor arrived less than an hour later, he didn't give Lith any mean look or nasty remark. On the contrary, he somehow recognized him at the first glance, complimenting him for his height.

Despite being only eight years and a half, Lith was already over one meter and thirty-five centimetres (4'6") high, and in the County of Lustria any man above 1.75 metres (5'9") was considered tall.

"Keep growing up so fast and soon you'll be as tall as the Count, young man."

After the man left, Nana whistled in surprise.

"Good gods, I know him. That's the tailor that personally prepare the dresses for the Lark's family. It's even worse than I thought. This occasion must be something really big, like being invited to a ball kind of big.

This is one of those rare moments when I'm happy not being part of high society anymore. Prepare yourself for long awkward silences, insufferable small talk and being showed around like some kind of exotic beast."

Lith spent the next ten days in his usual routine, obsessing about Nana's words was pointless, since he had already taken those things in consideration when he decided to tighten his relationship with the Count.

Except dancing, of course. Lith had always hated dancing, even back on Earth, mostly because of his two left feet. But even that wouldn't worry him much, there was no way for him learning Court's dances in so little time.

Even if he managed to find a book about it and added it to Soluspedia, knowing was not doing, he would still need to practice. He could only suck it up and endure.

When the fated day came, a luxurious stagecoach stopped in front of Nana's house. It was all white, with the décors painted gold, drawn by four snow-white stallions.

A valet descended, bowing to Lith before giving him a small wooden box.

"My Lord, would like you to change into your new outfit, before getting into the stagecoach, good sir."

So much respect was dumbfounding for Lith, so he bowed back without a word, before going into Nana's living quarters to change.

He came out wearing deep blue velvet pants over hard leather shoes, a snow-white silk shirt and a blazer matching with the pants, with the Count's family crest gold embroidered over his heart.

"Holy sh*t! I'm probably wearing more money than my family's farm is worth. Judging from the crest, I guess Nana was right, he is going to introduce me to someone, and he needs that someone to know who I belong to."

Lith was alone on the stagecoach. After opening the door for him, the valet went sitting beside the coachman.

The ride lasted over half an hour, despite the horses' remarkable speed. Having nothing to do, Lith spent the whole time using Accumulation. His deep cyan mana core had yet to change by even a shade, it definitely needed more work.

When the stagecoach finally stopped, Lith looked out of the window, only to discover they were just at the gates of the estate.

Two fully armed soldiers talked to the coachman, inspecting inside, above and below the stagecoach before letting them pass.

"Going at full speed, armed to the teeth guards, a full check on the coach. Maybe Nana was wrong, this looks more pressing by the second".

Once inside the gate, and beyond the high grey walls, the stagecoach slowed down, allowing Lith to take in the full manor view. The park around the manor extended as far as the eye could see.

The air smelled of cut grass, flower beds and finely trimmed bushes adorned the cobblestone paths that went across all the park.

Halfway between the gate and the manor, there was a plaza, surrounded by benches, and at his center a huge pedestal with a marble statue of someone that Lith assumed had to be either the first Count Lark, or an ancestor of which they were proud of.

The manor itself was bigger than he had imagined, extending for at least 3,000 square meters (3,588 square yards), divided into a main building, a left and a right wing forming a reversed U shape.

It took almost five more minutes to actually get to the manor's entrance.

The more he looked around, the more he could feel something was amiss. One of the greatest changes happened after Lith's mana core evolved to cyan, was that alongside his five senses, also his instinct had greatly improved.

He was able to sense hidden dangers, like with the Ry, and to more easily grasp someone's real demeanour and intentions. So, he didn't miss that there were too little servants around, and those few he managed to spot had all a tense expression.

A butler in a white and deep blue livery welcomed him with a deep bow.

"The Count asked me to apologize on his behalf for not personally receiving you, Magico Lith. His Lordship also tasked me to bring you to his private quarters as soon as possible, where he will explain everything to you."

The butler's poker face was impeccable, but Lith could have cut the atmosphere with a knife. He followed the butler until a double door room guarded by four soldiers.

Looking through the windows Lith could see that there were even more guards on the outside, patrolling the windows and the glass doors leading to the park.

Inside, he found the Count nervously pacing around, two youths were sitting on armchairs, and both were showing signs of anxiety, either tapping their feet of fiddling with their hair.

Count Lark hadn't changed much since the last time he had saw him in person. He was in his mid to late fifties, around 1,83 meters (6') tall with a thin build, that made him appear even taller.

The Count had thick black hair with streaks of grey, a short-trimmed goatee of the same colour. His inseparable black rimmed monocle was attached to his breast pocket with a blue silk string.

As soon as he saw Lith, his somber demeanour returned to be filled with enthusiasm.

"Good gods, Lith, you are finally here!" The Count shook his hand with such vigour that Lith thought he was actually trying to crush it.

"But where are my manners. Allow me to introduce you my beloved children."

The two youths stood up and extended their hands in turns.

"This is my third born, Jadon. He is also the next in line to become the next Count Lark. Hopefully it should happen many years from now."

Lith shook his hand. Jadon had a firm but gentle grip, physically resembling his father, except being almost ten centimetres (4 inches) shorter and with a much more muscular built. He was in his early twenties, with pitch black hair and goatee.

"And this is my fourth born, Keyla. This young beautiful lady is almost sixteen, and ready to make his debut at the King's Court. They are the only family I have left."

Keyla was a petite girl, 1,53 meters (5') high, with flaming red hair with shades of gold and emerald green eyes. She was wearing an emerald green day dress that highlighted her hair and eyes. She fitted the Count's bill, except for the beautiful part.

She wasn't really well endowed for Lith's tastes, and despite all the make up she wore it was impossible to hide such a bad case of acne. And even without that issue, he would have considered her pretty at best.

Keyla offered him her hand, the palm facing downward. Lith didn't need his etiquette book to know that she was expecting a hand-kiss.

It was awkward for him, he never did such a thing even for his past girlfriends when things had got almost serious. Luckily after being dead and reborn twice, having faced killers and magical beasts, it would take much more than that to embarrass him.

So, he made a small bow while giving a short peck on her hand.

"It's a real pleasure and an honour for me to meet you all." Lith said following the etiquette.

"Now please, you Lordship, could you explain to me the reason of my summoning?"

The more he saw and heard, the less he understood. Lith couldn't figure out why the Count was giving him all those useless details, and why the hand-tailored dress he received was so similar to what Jadon was wearing.

The Count facepalmed himself.

"Oh! Off course, I'm so sorry. I'm still so shocked by the recent events that my head doesn't work properly. Let me explain, I called you here because I need you saving our lives. My wife wants to kill us all."

"I beg your pardon?" Lith was flabbergasted.

"Dad! How many times I have told you to start explaining things from the beginning, not the end!" Keyla rolled her eyes.

"Yes, yes, my dear. You see, when I was Jadon's age I got married.

It was an arranged marriage, with the purpose to join the resources of the Lark and Ghishal households, that back at the time were both in dire straits, to get out of the insane debts that our profligate parents had left us.

The financial side of the business was a success. Between our combined annuities and by selling some of the residual assets, I was able to have enough capitals to invest in the right businesses.

Long story short, our families went from almost broke to being again two of the richest of the dukedom. And that's when everything fell apart between us. My wife, Koya, have never been kind or lovely to me, we were just business partners.

We never shared a common interest or ideal, but until we got our money back, at least it was bearable. After that point, our marriage was purely for show, and aside from when she asked me to attend to my marital duties, we had no intimacy.

I got four children from her, after all, and even got them tested with Blood Resonance magic to be certain they were actually mine. I might be a little airheaded, but I'm not that naïve!"

Both Jadon and Keyla became bright red, up to their ears.

"Dad! Too much information! Stick to the facts, please. This situation is already embarrassing as it is, don't add oil to the fire."

Jadon said, but the Count was inflexible.

"To be able to help us, Lith needs to understand what kind of woman we are facing, or do you want to underestimate your mother again?"

At those words, Jadon lowered his eyes and sat back down. Lith was really interested in the Blood Resonance magic, but he kept the question for later. Things were already confused enough already.

"Where was I? Oh yes. Right after our households got back on their feet, Koya soon became restless. She was obsessed with us getting more titles, more annuities, more lands.

To the point that she took part in the Court's power games and intrigues, trying to make allies to weaken our neighbours and take over their lands.

But after working hard for more than twenty years, I was content with what I had. Four beautiful children, a rich and prosperous household, a thriving County.

I just wanted to slow things down and enjoy the life I had built, while expanding my power and influence through hard honest work instead of underhanded schemes.

Off course she was furious, all her plotting was useless without my consent. After all, I wasn't married into her family, she was married into mine. And being the one that did all the work I kept the biggest share of the profits.

At that point, somehow, our constant arguing and mutual spite started affecting my firstborns. I don't know if it happened because they were born when I was still too busy to give them the proper care and attention, or if they just got more from their mother's side rather than mine. Only the gods know.

My eldest son, Lorant, started taking for granted his status as my successor, neglecting his duties and doing nothing but drinking, gambling and chasing skirts. My second born, Lyka, had always been a problematic child.

She was never content with what she had, always wanting more toys, more dresses, more jewellery. Nothing was enough for her. As my constant fights with her mother continues, she became angry with everything and everyone, throwing fits of rage for the smallest things.

She started beating the servants almost on daily basis, I lost count of how many ran away from this house because of her. Between Lyka and Lorant, it was like there was a competition about who would make me monthly spend more money, trying to cover up their misdeeds and compensating their victims.

I tried sending Lorant to all the military academies I could find, hoping that some discipline would straighten him up, but he always managed to get dishonourably discharged in a few months, if not weeks.

My last resort was giving him the position of responsibility in the household, but he would either not attend at all, or show up dead drunk. But when I discovered that he had begun not only deceiving maidens with promises of marriage, but also taking them by force I decided that enough was enough.

I publicly disowned him, stripping him of his titles and annuities, leaving him enough money to live an honest life, if he quit gambling, off course. I also told him that the next time he defiled a girl he would be judged like any other scoundrel, and pay for it."

At those words, Lith thought about Orpal for the first time in over three years.

"That a*shole should be away for at least another couple years. Maybe if I decide to take part in this episode of 'Game of Spades' and we survive, I can have the Count trace and eliminate him for me. That would be nice. I hate loose ends."

After a short break for a glass of water, Count Lark continued his story.

"My wife was outraged, for her Lorant's crimes were just 'boyish pranks' that we should indulge and forgive. But it was the Lark household that he was dragging into the mud, he was throwing away my money with gambles and loan sharks.

Not to mention that my reputation had become that of a corrupt and profligate noble. Even if somehow I didn't have any decency or honour within me, how could I entrust my life's work to someone that would dilapidate it in less than a generation?

Have I ever told you why I appreciate magic so much? It's because mages and nobles are so similar and yet so different. They both hold a power that allows them to destroy or save lives with a single word, to influence their surrounding just by being there.

I consider magic superior, because a mage's might come from study and discipline, and that means that he knows and understand the values of his power and the consequences of his actions.

Nobles, instead, get that power as a birthright. They take it for granted, and some live their whole lives considering perfectly natural for them to be superior, a higher existence. That's why so many of us end up abusing our status and authority.

But I digress. After expelling Lorant from the family, Koya wouldn't listen to reason, and neither would Lyka. She really loved her brother, and after he was kicked out, she became even more angry and violent."

The Count's eyes turned watery, he had to remove his monocle to rub them with a handkerchief.

"Have you ever heard about all those stories about nobles killing and maiming commoners for trivial reasons? Well, she turned out to be the living embodiment of all those stories, and when I discovered what she had done, the body count was already over a dozen!

I had no choice but to disown her too, pleading the King for mercy and losing a lot of my accumulated merits in the process. Despite everything, she is still my daughter.

My wife was brought to the brink of insanity, saying that it was all my fault, and so she left the house for good, returning to the Ghishals. At first, I thought that being apart would allow her to regain her senses and come back.

After a while, though, I really enjoyed the peace and quiet, and hoped she would never return. But then I discovered that she had brought with her our disowned sons, breaching my trust with a blatant flaunting of the King's law.

At that point, I applied for the marriage to be annulled, otherwise after my death she could reinstate them as family members, if not even as heirs to the County.

The annulment process would take a while, but I was certain to have settled that matter.

In the following weeks, I started to feel weak and feverish, and despite all Genon's assurances, my personal magician, I could tell that something was wrong. No cold ever felt like that or lasted so long.

So I started skipping my meals in secret, eating only fruits that I picked up myself, and guess what? My symptoms faded away. Only then I remembered that Genon was from my wife's side of the family. She had hired him personally, and so she did for more than half our staff.

After firing everyone she had brought in the house, I hoped to be finally safe, but then even Keyla and Jadon fell ill. I would have never imagined she would harm her own children, just for not agreeing with her!

At that point I was in dire need of a magical aide, but who could I trust? Competent magicians are hard to find, and at this point I don't trust anyone anymore. Who knows who may actually be sent by my wife or one of her associates?

That's when I sent you the letter with the help of my personal secretary, a man that I know and trust from decades.

I couldn't call for Lady Nerea's help, without her the whole district of Lutia would fall apart, not to mention it would be a sign of weakness. Who would entrust a County to a man incapable of managing his own house?

Nana have more than once assured me that your healing skills are on par with hers, and having killed a magical beast, I'm pretty confident that you are already more competent than Genon, who graduated in a minor academy only thanks to his father's money."

Lith closed his eyes, trying to assimilate all that information at once to decide his next course of action.

"F*ck! I'm in a dead end." He thought. "If I say no and he survives I'll lose everything I built so far.

If I refuse and he dies, not only all my efforts for making him into my backer will be for naught, but this wannabe Sersi strikes me like someone that after getting rid of her husband, will wipe clean all traces of his existence, and that includes me!

Unless she is deaf, blind and dumb she is bound to know how much the Count has invested in me, that puts all my family in danger. And I definitely don't want this Lorant guy come any close to my mother and sisters."

Feeling cornered, he had only one doubt.

"I consider myself a good healer and hunter, your Lordship, but I don't see how can I help, except by keeping you safe and healthy for the time being, off course. But that would be just stalling for time. If you don't have a way to make your wife yield, it could go on for years."

"No, rest assured that it won't. As soon as the marriage is annulled, she will not be able to make demands anymore about the Lark household.

Unless I am sorely mistaken, by that time she will be knee deep in troubles caused by our disowned sons and for violating the King's law by bringing them into her family despite being marked as a living shame.

Her only way out is to get rid of me, Keyla and Jadon to make my will null and void, remain the only inheritor alive and restore Lorant and Koya status. I just need you to keep us alive until the King signs the annulment documents."

Lith's mind was spinning at full gear, consulting with Solus to make sure to keep all his bases covered.

"That can be done. But I have some demands that I would like your Lordship to agree with before accepting."

From their expression, it was clear they didn't expect such request, yet the Count nodded without hesitation.

"To be able to protect you, I need to move inside you house until the matter is resolved, right?"

"But off course! That's why you wear the family colours and crest. That dress identifies you with one of my personal aides, second in authority only to me and my children."

"Good to know," Lith thought. "That explains why me and Jadon have almost matching clothes."

"And I am deeply honoured for it, but if I agree to help you, your wife could target my family too in retaliation. If I move in, I might need for them to come along, for their safety, and someone has to take care of the farm, or they will have nothing to return to."

Count Lark facepalmed himself.

"Oh Lith, I'm so sorry for doubting your loyalty. For a moment I thought you were going to refuse. You are right, I missed this possibility. I will make them come here as soon as possible, they will be my honoured guests as well.

I will send my sharecroppers to tend to your farm until everything is settled. Anything else?"

"Yes. I need free rein within your household. If your wife still has insiders, if not spies still here, I will need to resort to unpleasant means to sort them out. We cannot expect them to confess out of the goodness of their hearts."

Count Lark took out a handkerchief, cleaning his already shiny monocle to ease his nerves.

"Do you mean torture and interrogations? Do we really need to resort to that?"

"As a last resort, but yes. Desperate times call for desperate measures. But it should not be necessary, I can easily disguise as your guest while keeping a low profile. After all no one knows who I am, except the butler."

The Count started coughing up loudly, Jadon and Keyla looked at each other, before turning towards Lith.

"Actually, everyone knows who you are." Jadon said with an awkward smile.

"Well, but that doesn't mean they know what I am capable of."

When he saw them exchanging another look, while the Count kept coughing non-stop, Lith felt compelled to ask: "They don't, right?"

Keyla cleared her throat before standing up, prompting him to follow her.

"A picture is worth more than a thousand words. I think you need to see how you are depicted in the Painting Hall."

"How I am what?!" Lith yelled, having lost his cool for a second.

Now it was the Count's turn to become red up to his ears. Lith followed Keyla, resisting the urge to demand for her to move faster. All that situation had come completely unexpected, and was heavily weighing on his mind.

Since he had heard of the painting, Solus hadn't stopped laughing, projecting in his head famous statues like the David of Donatello or the Perseus by Antonio Canova, but she replaced the facial features with Lith's and switched Medusa's head with the Byk's one, grinding on his nerves.

"I swear that if that f*cker of the Count had me drawn naked or something, I'll kill him faster and more cruelly than his psycho wife ever could."

Luckily for the Count, that wasn't the case.

The painting was quite big, one meter (3'3") large and 1.5 meters (5') high, and represented the Byk, standing on his feet with glowing red eyes in a dark forest, occupying the center and the left corner.

Lith was drawn while facing the magical beast, offering only the left profile to the viewer. His small body occupied only the bottom right corner, engulfed in a magical aura. His left arm and hand were set ablaze, supposedly because of a fire spell he was casting.

The perspective and darkness-filled background made the Byk seem big and terrifying like a dragon, while Lith appeared as the only element of light, his face filled with courage and determination.

The enormous stuffed body of the Byk was placed a few meters to the right, half hidden in an alcove, to show the visitor the ending of the story depicted in the drawing.

"Well, it's not that bad." Lith thought. "It's not the tacky horror I had imagined, and I am not even idiotically beautified. That's my actual face. Solus, is it me, or I look kind of handsome?"

"Well, I don't know." She replied. "It's definitely a version of you that doesn't glare and frown all the time. More importantly, he doesn't look like he is there because he has lost a bet, like you do when you watch yourself in the mirror."

Lith sighed in relief. At least he wasn't portrayed in his birthday suit or in some kind of arrogant or overbearing pose. That would have been really embarrassing for him.

"What's the problem with the painting?" Lith asked, scratching his head in confusion.

"The problem is that my father showed it to every guest, servant and passerby that was willing to listen to him, recounting how you single-handedly defeated the malevolent beast in an epic battle of magic and wits." Jadon answered.

"That's quite an accurate recollection of the events, albeit entirely made up" Solus commented. "The Count would make an excellent story teller."

Lith dismissed Jadon worries with a wave of the hand.

"You are overthinking it. No one actually witnessed the fight, the pelt is almost completely intact, and everyone knows about Count Lark's obsession with magic and sponsoring promising youths.

They would more likely believe that either I lucked out or that the Count gave me some help, and is trying to lie me into a hero. No offence, your Lordship."

"None taken." The Count replied. "So, do you like it?"

He was itching of impatience, waiting for Lith's reply.

"What's not to like?" He shrugged. "I'm not an art expert, but it seems well painted. Both me and the Byk are depicted realistically. The only question I have is how could the artist know my…"

Then Lith's eye noticed the painter signature in the bottom left corner. It was a squiggly line, but with a leap of imagination one could actually read the name 'Trequill Lark'.

Lith turned around abruptly just in time to get a glimpse of Count Lark jumping with joy, before regaining his composure.

Having cleared that issue, they silently returned to the Count's private quarters, before resuming their conversation.

Lith pretended to be casting a fake magic spell, while actually casting his Hush spell. It would create a spherical air vortex that would make eavesdropping by conventional means impossible, by distorting the sounds coming out of the room.

"That will prevent anyone from listening. As I was saying, taking everything in account, no one would actually believe such a story. Off course the fact that everyone knows my face complicates things, but a covert operation is still feasible.

For how I see it, we have two options. Option one: I pretend to not live up to what the Count said up until this point and act like a half-baked magician. This will give the enemies inside and outside the house the confidence to carry on with their plans, like I am not even here.

It should make easier to capture whoever tried to poison you, but it also means that the assassin will embolden and attack more often. Consider that such person or persons, could be a small fish, hence even eliminating him/her would do us no good, they would be easily replaceable.

Option two: I play it big and loud, confirming all the rumors about me. That should put your wife on alert, forcing her to reconsider her plans and become more cautious.

That would mean a temporary peace, but the next assassination attempts would be conducted by a skilled person that would strike only after a careful preparation, giving him/her high chance of success.

At the same time, it wouldn't be easy to find another trusted mercenary on such short notice, if we manage to eliminate the first one.

Both paths are filled with thorns and dangers, so it's up to you to decide."

The room fell into silence, the three nobles were pondering about how they wanted to bet their lives.

"Isn't there a third option?" Keyla asked.

"If you can find one, sure. I am open to suggestions." Lith shrugged.

"I say that our best option is discretion." The Count had made up his mind.

"We aren't trying to beat Koya at her own game, we just need to stall for time. If we managed to survive on our own until now, with Lith's help things should be much easier.

Let's keep our real strength hidden as long as we can, so that when she finds out the truth, hopefully she won't have enough time to take the best countermeasures she could.

I know her well, she is cold and calculative, but under pressure she is much better at taking orders rather than giving them. It's happened multiple times in the past, and now it's not any different.

She could have pretended to accept my decision, to stay by my side despite our differences.

That way, even the first poisoning attempt would have succeeded, since my suspects arose mostly because I knew she wouldn't stand idly while losing the status and money that the title of Countess gives her.

But as always, Koya's bad temper got the best of her and she made a mistake after the other. So, what's our next move?"

"Until everything is resolved, don't hire new servants, it's too risky." Lith said.

"Aside from that, there is not much we can do, we are still on the defence. The only thing that comes to my mind is to introduce me to your staff, one small group at the time.

Those who are still loyal to you will look at me with curiosity and benevolence, while those who are your wife's payroll may feel pressured and lose their cool. It's a longshot but it's better than nothing."

Lith's plan was actually more complex than that, but it wasn't something he could share.

Between his Life Vision and Solus' mana sense, he would take note of everyone whose physical strength exceeded their occupation requirements or had at least a yellow mana core.

"Our best bet would be a male, middle aged with a strong body and mana core. It would make the perfect suspect." Lith thought.

"Why a male?" Solus asked.

"Because men are physically superior, even in this world. A woman would better suit a honey trap, but we already know that the Count doesn't fiddle with maids.

Middle aged because it should be someone the Countess planted long ago, to let him gain the trust and authority necessary to freely move in the manor. And a strong mana core would be a great tell for a hit man.

I doubt anyone with enough talent for magic would settle for a manual labour job without a really good reason. Also, if something magic related happens, it would be the perfect diversion, since women would always be the prime suspects being naturally more talented."

When the Count had told him to have fired half of the staff, Lith had deluded himself into believing that would make things easier for him to control. But reality begged to differ.

The remaining personnel still amounted to over fifty units, and that was only after not taking into account gardeners and stable workers, since they did not have access to the main building.

"Fifty-four f*cking persons! It's more than the whole village population. It took me hours just to meet them all!"

None of them had shown signs of stress meeting him, making his official plan a complete failure. The silver lining was that he had actually found possible suspects, the problem, thought, was that there were too many.

Lith had found among the staff sixteen people that stuck out for their physical or magical abilities. Yet he had no way of performing a background check outside directly asking them or their colleagues, but that would make his intentions too obvious.

He couldn't rely on the Count or his children for that, they barely knew their names and roles in the household.

Lith decided that for the time being, the best he could do was keep his own family in the dark. As long as he played his role as a weak magico, the safest place for them was the one further away from the eye of the storm.

He kept thinking and thinking, but he couldn't find a way out.

"Dammit! I'm really starting to believe that this time I am way out of my league. I'm no detective, just an out of practice chemist that now practices magical arts! This is not a problem that I can solve by killing or burning stuff.

The situation resembles more and more a frigging game of chess, and I hate chess! I suck at chess when the fight is fair, let alone when all I have is my queen (me), the king (Count) and two pawns(heirs)!"

Solus giggle was the first good thing he had heard the whole day.

"Well, if the board is so unfavourable, have you thought about cheating?"

Suddenly Lith's stone ring turned to liquid, splashing on the floor before returning to the form of a marble. Eight little legs came out of the stone marble, making it resemble a spider that started to move in circles around Lith.

"Nice little trick, don't you think?"

"I wanted to give this a try since I gained the ability to change shape at will." Solus explained.

"It's amazing! What you can do in that form?"

"The same as always. Store things and use magic you know by consuming your mana. If you allow me to do it, obviously."

"Then what's the point? Last time we checked, our mind link was around 10 meters (10.1 yards). Sure, I could plant and use you as a bug, but then I would need somehow to retrieve you without raising suspicions. How far can you move on your own?"

"We are about to find out!" Solus started moving fast, first on the floor then up the wall, until she reached the ceiling. Then she moved on the opposite side of the room, putting 5 meters (5.4 yards) between them.

"So far so good. I feel I can move even further."

Lith opened the door of his room, checking with Life Vision that there was no one hidden in some corner or behind a secret passage he was unaware of.

Then he let Solus get further away from him. She kept humming the entire time, making possible to Lith to determine how the strength of their mind link changed with distance.

At ten metres (11 yards), it was perfectly clear, like she was still on his finger. After twenty meters (22 yards) it became muffled, he could still share her senses and communicate with her, but it required focus. At thirty meters (33 yards), her thoughts were barely a whisper.

"I don't feel so good, I'm afraid that this is my limit. If I get any further, I won't be able to receive your mana anymore and I will begin to consume my life force in order to move. My reserves are not depleted as when you first found me, but the idea of being all alone, bleeding energy at every step frightens me quite a bit."

Lith could understand her fear. She had already got very close to death once, and in order to survive, Solus had to pay a terrible price.

"If mana is the problem, let's see if I can do something about it." Lith created a string of mana with spirit magic, and used it to connect to Solus.

Suddenly everything was clear again, he could even feel her little body perform a joyful dance. Solus was able to proceed swiftly until the distance between them was fifty meters (54.7 yards), the new limit of spirit magic's range.

Sending her mana over a further distance required increasing focus and energy consumption on Lith side. It was like casting and keeping active several spells at the same time.

For Solus to reach the servant quarters, Lith required such concentration to became blind and deaf to whatever was happening around him, going into a meditative trance.

"This is completely unacceptable! I need to babysit the Count and his kids at all times. What would happen if we got attacked while I play the sleeping beauty? Not to mention how can I possibly explain to the Count my 'narcolepsy' without either losing his trust or revealing Solus' existence?"

Lith tried to open his eyes, to listen with his own ears instead of using Solus' senses. It didn't come easy, it was like pushing a car uphill, the slightest mistake and he would be back to square one. After numerous failures, Lith snapped.

"F*ck! If finesse doesn't work, let's go brute force!"

Lith forcefully awoke, his room was as he had left it, the door still barred from the inside since Solus had gone beyond his line of sight. He could hear and see again, but the burden on his mind and body was unchanged.

He could feel his mana being drained, his mind slower than usual. It was like trying to do mental calculation despite a commercial jingle you couldn't get out of your head. The mind link was still there, but it was blocked.

"Seems at this range I can either use my senses or hers, not both. It's not great, but still an improvement. I won't have to fall asleep at the weirdest times at least."

After closing his eyes again, Lith asked Solus to come back, and after her return, they planned their next moves.

In the following days, Lith would stay with the three nobles at all the times, barricading themselves in the Count's private quarters and surrounded by guards.

That way from the outside it would look like Lith's arrival had changed nothing, but appearances couldn't be more different from the truth.

Lith would make them drink only water he conjured, and before letting them eat even a single bite of any food, he would use magic to search for poisons and detoxify them.

He would also use Vinire Rad Tu, the light magic diagnostic spell, to cover up his use of Invigoration, his body strengthening/imaging breathing technique, to check up their bodies for slow release poisons they could have ingested before his arrival or any relevant anomalies.

The poison was mostly in the food, covered by spices and sauces and the only anomaly he could found was Keyla's acne.

"Poor girl! This sh*t doesn't cover only her face, it covers also her back and shoulders. I guess for her debut in society she will have to pick a dress that leaves a lot to imagination."

But while Lith was seemingly holed up, he was actually checking on his suspects, one by one. To avoid useless energy expenditure, he would establish his mind link with Solus before attaching her to a plate, tray or under a servant's collar.

She would then travel to the kitchens in search of her target, and only then she would send a small burst of energy to signal Lith to start feeding her again. She would then follow the suspect during the day, hoping to caught him or her red handed.

Usually she would get nothing out of it, but just the gossip was worth the trip.

"Sigh, since the Countess left, so many bad things have happened." Said a maid in her late twenties.

"Yeah, first someone tried to poison the Count, and then he kicked out a lot of our friends! I get that he is scared, but that was unfair." Said a valet that was barely eighteen years old.

"Shut up, idiot! And thank the gods we still have our job and references. This isn't a good time for slackers and whiners." Replied harshly a chubby maid over her forties.

"Personally, I have always considered her Ladyship nuttier than a fruitcake." Chimed in Poltus, the butler and head of the staff that had welcomed Lith at his arrival.

"Always nagging to the poor Count and asking for money. But this time, I think she may have a motive, that it pains me to admit, is almost justifiable." He said dramatically looking over his shoulder, like someone that knows too much.

"What do you mean? What do you know?" Soon Poltus was hard pressed to reveal his juiciest discovery.

"Isn't it obvious? I mean who in his right mind would stand up for those two worthless scums? They are nothing but human faced monsters, not even the Countess would dirty her hands with that trash!

I'm so happy they are finally gone. My daughter is getting lovelier by the day, you know. During the last year, I have spent every day in dread, hiding her from that walking d*ck of Lorant."

"Who cares about your daughter, old fogey, spill the beans!" Said the chubby maid.

A small crowd of servants had gathered up around him, and even if there was no one else around, he whispered like he was about to reveal a forbidden secret.

"I think that the kid that just arrived is the Count's fifth son!" All the presents gasped in astonishment.

"Think about it. Pitch black hair, very tall for his age, obsessed with magic. They are clearly made from the same mould! Otherwise why would the Count personally paint him and put the picture in the Painting Hall, among his family members?

Why would he send the family tailor to make him his dresses and ask the kid to join him in his time of need? A family must stick together!"

Soon the whole room erupted with shouts and chatter.

"That's why the Countess was so angry!" "It explains everything!"

"Do you think he could be the next in line of succession? Poor Jadon."

While everyone's imagination was going wild, Solus was really happy of being a magical construct at the moment.

She was laughing so hard that she could barely keep her form. If she had been inside a human body, she would be rolling on the floor, hugging her belly and gasping for air.

The gathering was going to last long, but luckily her mark wasn't that much interested in gossip and started to move toward the servant's quarters.

Solus promptly detached from the apron she was hiding under, and followed her quietly until she was able to latch on her shoe.

The maid was one of Lith's prime suspects, a member of the personnel that had access to all the family's meals and with a physical and magical strength above the average. Not much, but it was all that they had.

All the other previous suspects had been nothing but a bust. Sure, someone would steal silverware, another had an affair with another staff member, but that wasn't what Solus was looking for.

The young girl opened her room with a key and then walked in. All the staff's bedrooms were identical, eight meters (8.8 yards) long and six meters (6.6 yards) large.

There would be one bed next to the wall on the opposite side of the door, and two more beds alongside the side walls. The only source of light outside of oil lamps, would be a single big window, and each bed had a wooden chest were the servants could store their belongings.

As soon as she was alone, the maid started grumbling out loud.

"Those idiots! All they think about is gossip and make everything related to nobles' relationships out to be sordid. Who cares who f*cks who? I can't wait for this mess to be over. Since the staff was halved, I don't get to slack off anymore.

The Count has lessened our workload, sure, but with half the house to clean, now Pontus has double the time to check on our work. If I get any more demerits that old b*stard will take money out of my salary! Gods, I'm so tired."

She closed off the curtains, and then changed into her nightgown before going to sleep. Solus could only inwardly sigh.

"Guess this is just another bust. She really doesn't seem to be a cold-blooded killer. She is really cute, though, especially without all those baggy clothes on. I wonder if hers is the body type Lith likes, or if he will indulge on these images."

She chuckled.

"Guess not. Based on his memories it's too soon for his body to have those urges, and his mind couldn't care less. Even when I told him I got into the women quarters he didn't check my memories even once, he only listened to my report."

Solus used the Hush spell to prevent any noise to wake up the sleeping maid, adding a touch of dark magic to turn the room pitch black.

She then proceeded to open the chest. Using a mix of spirit magic and her body shifting abilities, picking up the lock was easy as pie.

While rummaging through the maid's personal belongings, Solus wondered about her life.

"It always feels so odd be away from Lith. I'm so used to constantly hear his thoughts, worries and memories that all this silence in my head feels really lonely. Even when he sleeps his mind always keeps me company.

After all these years, I still haven't figured out what he is for me. A companion? A host? A master, or rather my mother? He gave me a second life, after all, and my first happy memory begins with him.

The only reminiscences I have before meeting him are filled with the fear of dying or losing myself."

The search had given no results, there was nothing outside casual clothes, shoes, family mementos and harmless mails between her and her loved ones.

"Sigh, according to Earth's detective stories, the culprit should have with him/her a detailed letter from the instigator, money, a signet, a flask of poison or whatnot."

Being already in the room, Solus decided to also check the remaining beds and wooden chests, starting from the one on the left side of the room. It turned out to be even more bland than the previous.

"Two down, one more to go."

Solus opened the last lock, going through the clothes, the letters and the trinkets contained in the last chest. She turned an old pair of shoes upside down, when a hidden treasure fell into her hands.

"Well, well. What do we have here?"

Later, that day, when Solus returned with the identity of the culprit, a sample of the poison and the hilarious new gossip as prizes, she had expected Lith to be excited or at least relieved.

Instead he was brooding, with the same annoyed face he had when he was forced to spend quality time with Trion.

"Why so gloomy? We did it, we can take her out anytime we want. Smile a little."

"I would indeed smile if we managed to find her at the first or maybe fifth attempt.

Unless math has become an opinion the last time I slept, searching thirteen rooms out of eighteen, means you have searched thirty-nine persons, more than two-thirds of the staff members.

At this point we can as swell sweep the remaining five to verify if she has accomplices. Not to mention that this maid wasn't even on my list, the psycho wife would have bested me if not for your new ability."

Lith started pacing, his mind analysing the choices at his hand.

"You are a real party pooper, you know?" Solus pouted.

"Sorry, you did a great job, but put yourself in my shoes. First, it took us so long to find her that I am pretty sure the Countess has already noticed that something is wrong. The Count and his heirs have been poisoned daily, yet they are perfectly fine.

It's safe to assume that soon she will resort to a more direct approach. We need to move fast, before her pawn flees from the scene.

Second and most important, this new piece of gossip you brought me is a nightmare! Sure, is all fun and laugh, until you realize that if the rumour reaches the Countess' ears, she may even believe it.

And while I don't care being a target, the same can't be said about my mother! We must wrap this up quickly, and try to get as much evidence as we can, so whoever is handling the annulment process will be forced to speed his bureaucrat a*s up.

Then, I can ask the Count to bring my family here as soon as possible. When those blabbering fools see that I am the spitting image of my father, that stupid rumour will die out. Only then I will be able to focus on protecting the Count again."

"Well, yeah." Solus shrugged. "But you are forgetting about the bright side. If the Countess falls for this rumour, she will get really angry. And when she's angry she makes really stupid mistakes. Always such a pessimist. And you even dare to question why you look like cr*p in a mirror."

Ever since Solus had started following the suspects, Lith hadn't been sitting idly either. To make use of whatever she would find, he needed a plausible excuse.

At random times during the day, he would pretend to go investigating on his own, leaving the three nobles with the guards, while he would actually always remain in the vicinity, ready to intervene if necessity arose.

Also, he had asked the Count to give him a tour of his magical library, getting the opportunity to borrow some tier four books and store them inside Soluspedia.

Even when they were apart, Lith could still access both the dimensional storages, it would just take some effort to operate them.

That allowed him to further expand his knowledge about the possibilities of magic, and gave him several new ideas.

The next day, after Solus identified at least one of the Countess' agents, Lith started to prepare the final steps for his new plan, while Solus searched the remaining seven rooms.

It turned out they miscalculated, since both the butler and the head of kitchen had their private rooms, because of their status and seniority. Her task was made faster and easier by the fact that she had not to tail a target for a whole day anymore.

Solus could just get inside and search for evidence as soon the coast was clear. On Lith's side things were a bit trickier. First, he had to identify the poison from the sample Solus brought back. It was a colourless and odourless liquid.

He spreaded a small drop of it on his finger and another on his tongue, without swallowing it. It tasted sweet and acidic at the same time.

"What the f*ck? A pineapple pizza flavoured poison? This is disgusting! And here I hoped to have left that cr*p on Earth."

While his stomach was turning at those horrible memories, the areas where he had spreaded the poison became numb. After a while they became red and swollen. Since breathing was getting harder, Lith immediately neutralized the poison, before looking for it in the Count's books he had stored in Soluspedia.

"Thankfully, in this world they shouldn't have synthetic poisons outside the magical varieties. It shouldn't be hard to find the right one."

It turned out to be an extract from a rare type of blackberries-like fruit that usually grew in marshlands. The whiteberries, more commonly known as doomberries, in their natural state simply had a sweet smell and disgusting taste, but their juice if properly distilled and condensed was highly toxic.

Its low dosage symptoms matched the Count's story, like the effects Lith had experienced fitted the description of its concentrated form.

At that point, the final issue lied in finding a way to get a full confession without destroying the good image Count Lark had of him. Lith didn't miss how disgusted the Count had reacted at the mention of tortures.

Lith had no interest in arts, but from the way the Count had painted him, it was clear that in his mind the young magico was valiant and righteous, rather than a cold -blooded schemer with a penchant for inflicting pain.

"This is so stupid. Not only I have to save him, but I also have to do it in a way of his liking. Having a good man as a backer is both a blessing and a curse. I need to get creative."

Having almost run out of options, Lith needed check out books he had never thought could have any use to him, before going to the Count and explain to him the only plan crazy enough to have a ghost of a chance.

*****

A few days later, Lynna Crestwick was at her rope's end. The Countess was sick and tired of her failures, and had clearly told her to either get to job done or start running for her life.

"That ungrateful b*tch! After so many years of loyal service, always covering her sorry a*s, even volunteering to get rid of her deadbeat husband, that's how she repays me? Now I get why the sod wants to get rid of her.

I'll make a last attempt before getting out of here. I'm sick of being caught between a rock and a hard place, always watching my back. If even this fails, I'll escape to the Gorgons empire. I should be safe there."

She had no idea what could have possibly go wrong. Before getting fired, Genon had told her that the doomberry kiss was a powerful poison that even he would have a hard time to detoxify. Could the Count have an inhuman constitution despite being so thin?

During her shift in the kitchen, she waited for the plates to be left unattended before adding two spoonsful of poison into the Count's plate. It was impossible to miss, since even the napkins had the initials embroidered.

That dose would be enough to kill a dozen men, but she was tired of slowly rising the amount, day after day, waiting for something to happen.

Some hours later, she finally succeeded. After eating the soup, the Count had started to have difficulty breathing, his tongue swelling like a sponge.

Both the so-called-magician brat and Pontus, which back in the military had been a field medic, couldn't help him. The b*astard was finally dead!

Lynna, just like her co-workers, started sobbing uncontrollably. But while they were grieving, she was weeping with joy. Now she was safe, and with the sum she had agreed with the Countess, she could finally turn her lifelong dream into reality.

She didn't need anymore to work her a*s for someone else, it was her turn to live in a beautiful house, surrounded by servants.

Off course, first she had to wait for the investigation to be concluded.

Jadon, the new Count, imposed the martial law, prohibiting anyone to go out of the house without his permission. Lynna had nothing to fear, thought.

As soon as she spiced up the late Count's plate, she had thrown away the remaining poison and carefully washed the flask, before putting it back in the kitchen pantry.

During the rest of the day, every room was combed and every member of the staff had to undergo a long interrogation. When they finally let her walk, she was exhausted, all the stress and emotions had taken a big toll on her.

Also, she was starting to realize that she had actually killed a man, and a good one too. She tried to ease her guilty conscience by thinking of her future wealth and happiness, but instead she ended up second thinking everything she did so far.

"What if that b*tch breaks her word? Is not like I can expose her crime, after all. Even worse, what if my reward turns out to be a knife in the back or a poisoned drink? She doesn't need me anymore, I'm just a loose end.

Good gods, what have I done? Have I really killed a harmless buffoon, just for pile of gold?" The words 'pile' and 'gold' still had a soothing effect on her, so she decided to go to bed and put all that story behind her.

"What's done it's done, all the remorse in the world can't bring back the Count, may the gods rest his soul."

The problem was that her roommates wouldn't stop talking about what happened, it was the first time in years that a murder occurred within those walls.

After some yelling and bickering, she managed to get convince them to close the curtains and turn off the oil lamp.

Lynna had just closed her eyes when the doorknob started turning ad rattling, someone was trying to get in!

As soon as the light was lit again the rattling stopped.

"What was that?" "It must be another of Syka's stupid pranks! She's such an as*hole!"

"And how could she do it if all our rooms are closed from the outside? Martial law, remember?" Lynna pointed out.

When they were still trying to find an explanation, suddenly the room became so cold that they could see their breaths condensing, their room's window got all fogged up.

One of her roommates became really scared, banging on the door and calling for help, but no one answered. All they could do was to wear their heaviest clothes and cover themselves with the blankets.

Then, the oil lamp went out. No matter how hard they tried, it was impossible to lit it again. Panic started to ensue when the knob rattled again, even stronger than before, while their beds shook like during a quake.

"It's like in the old stories my grandmother used to tell me when I was little!" Screamed one of the maids.

"A vengeful spirit is trying to get in!"

"Grow up, Seria! There are no such things as ghosts!" Lynna was a woman of action, she never believed to folk tales. She raised her nightstand, to use it to smash the window that refused to open, when she saw him.

The late Count Trequill Lark was in front of her, despite her room being on the first floor. His whole figure was pale white, glowing in a dim light like a firefly.

His eyes were all white with no pupils, shedding tears of blood. Small blue flames were erupting from his snow-white hair, dancing around him while emitting screams of pain.

Their eyes were locked, Lynna couldn't look away, her whole body frozen stiff, the nightstand still raised.

"How could you do this to me?" The Count's voice sounded distorted and distant, barely a whisper, but they could hear it clearly as a shout.

Screaming in terror, the three women ran to the door, trying to open it and calling for help. When they looked back, the Count was already floating inside, despite the window being still locked.

When he extended his hand, they felt a jolt running through their spines, falling into a cold oblivion.

When Lynna woke up, she discovered she wasn't in her bedroom anymore. The moon was covered by clouds, and with only the dim light of the stars, she couldn't figure out her new location.

Lynna only knew she was now in the open. The cold night breeze and the rough feeling of the earth under her hands left no space for doubts. As her eyes started to adjust to the penumbra, she noticed some humanoid forms laying on the ground, only a few meters away.

Glad of not being alone, she slowly crawled towards them, while trying to remember what had just happened. Lynna was about to shake her roommates, when the moon shined through the moving clouds, revealing them to be skeletons.

Lynna started to scream, and when she recognized the nightgowns they were wearing as those she had seen countless times on her friends it turned into a shriek.

Around her, multiple figures started to move and moan. She tried to run away, but tripped into something soft and squishy, tumbling on the ground. When she opened her eyes again, she was staring at a tombstone where was engraved:

"Here lies Croblan Lark, beloved father and husband."

Lynna suddenly realized what was that place, why it did feel so familiar. That was Lark's family burial ground, were all the forefathers of Count Lark lied in their eternal rest.

In that moment, she remembered everything: the poisoning, the twisting knob, the ghost. She wanted to believe it was all a bad dream, but her foot still hurt after the fall. Lynna was about to lose her mind, when the moonlight revealed that the moving figures weren't undead, but other members of the staff she knew all too well.

Two of them were actually her accomplices, Zamon, the second oldest butler after Poltus, whose loyalty actually lied only with the Countess, and Bisya, a young maid that had been planted a couple years ago to keep an eye on the Count's private quarters.

The three of them had been tasked by the Countess to ensure her return to power, by eliminating all possible obstacles. It was only thanks to Zamon's and Bisya's help that she had been able to slip the poison in the food unnoticed, even when she wasn't supposed to be in the kitchen.

Either by relying on Zamon's authority or Bysia's flirting charm, she had managed to complete every task assigned to her after the Countess forced departure.

There were also two more staff members with them. Refia, a young valet she had often worked with, and Olmund, one of the many butlers of the household.

"Lynna, is that you?" Bisya looked confused, shaking her head, trying to regain her focus. "That scream of yours almost made my head explode."

"Where in the gods' name are we? Why I'm not in my room? I clearly recall…" Zamon's voice was cut short, the blood draining from his visage as he remembered the last events.

"The Count!" He exclaimed.

At those words, all five of them froze up in place, swept away by the terror caused by the unnatural encounter.

"The Count is back!" Refia said with a choked voice.

"And the gods know why, but he believes I'm responsible for his death!"

Soon they all started looking around, finding the corpses of their roommates. Their clothes were unscathed, while their bodies seemed to have aged centuries.

"Rorryk, why did this happen to you?" Olmund feel to his knees, near the remnants of his oldest friend, crying desperately.

"Shut up, you fool!" Zamon forced his mouth shut with a hand.

"In case you haven't noticed we are in a cemetery! Is better not to wake which can eternal lie." Zamon didn't dare emit more than a whisper, he was very superstitious.

Usually Lynna would mock him for his cowardice, but that night was different. She could feel her guts twisting and turning in fear, her body begging her to run away.

Suddenly the ground trembled, and a raging fire erupted from an open grave.

Count's Trequill Lark grave.

"How could you do this to me?"

The Count's spirit slowly emerged from the flames.

"Prepare to be judged by my ancestors."

From the tombs nearby the Count, three skeletons arose, unearthing themselves up to the waist.

"Murderers!" Wailed an old man's voice.

"Traitors!" Yelled a woman's voice.

"Vermin!" Said a man's voice.

The three skeletons were struggling to get free from earth's embrace, while announcing their verdict. The dirt, tattered clothes they wore kept ripping apart.

"The die is cast!" The Count's spirit said with an otherworldly deep voice.

"Confess!" He was pointing his finger towards Refia, who suddenly felt pushed down on the ground by an invisible force.

"I'm innocent! I swear!" He said, sobbing uncontrollably.

The three skeletons started to wail as one, in a cacophony of indistinguishable voices. Their hollow orbits emitted a red glow, like a candle had been lit within, and like the Count, blood tears started to endlessly flow along their cheekbones.

"Liar!" The Count yelled, and Refia was dragged by the invisible force towards the Count's open grave, whose flames started to rise and roar loudly.

The others tried to hold him by the arms, but the spirit's pull was too strong. When Refia was thrown into the fiery pit, he emitted an inhumane shriek while the flames turned from bright red to an ominous purple.

"He will serve me in the netherworld, to atone for his sin." The Count's spirit said.

"Confess!" This time he was pointing at Olmund, who promptly complied.

"I confess! I confess! It was me stealing the silk bolts, exploiting my inventory duty. That's why there was never enough."

"And how do you atone?" Said the spirit, its eyes reduced to two flaming slits.

"I'm so sorry! I swear!"

"Words are not enough!" The corpses on the ground arose, their orbits brimming with a red light. They lifted Olmund with their skeletal hands over their heads, and threw him into the pit.

"Rorryk, why?" Was his final scream before disappearing in the flames.

Before the ghost could pass his judgment, Lynna kneeled deeply, head on the ground, begging for forgiveness.

"I confess! It was me poisoning you, and those two are my accomplices!" She said pointing at the two survivors.

Zamon and Bisya tried to take a step back, but the skeletons had returned, surrounding them again.

"Because of you my children are alone in this world!" The ghost wailed in pain.

"It's only a matter of time before they join me in death! How do you atone?"

"I'm so sorry! I've been stupid, I have no proof. I threw away the poison and burned all her Ladyship's letters."

"Then burn yourself!" Lynna was then dragged by her dead roommates in the pit, only the flames put an end to her shrieks.

Zamon and Bisya kneeled too, going straight to the point.

"I can save your children!" Yelled the young maid. "I'm not stupid, I never trusted that b*tch as far as I can throw her. I kept all her letters, her orders, in case she broke her word! I keep them all under a loose board in the kitchen's pantry."

"As did I! Also, I know where she keeps hidden all her personal correspondence." The old butler rushed to add, fearing of becoming useless to his captor.

"She ordered the poison months ago! And there so much more to it! It's all in a secret compartment right under her bed. I swear, that's all that I know! Please have mercy of this old fool!"

"Magnificent!" Said the Count with his usual joyful and enthusiastic tone, clapping his hands in delight.

Suddenly he didn't sound otherworldly at all. The skeletons fell down like puppets whose strings had been cut, the fire went out and the Count came down to the ground with a thump loud enough to be heard.

"Was this all…" Zamon couldn't believe his eyes.

"A farce?" Poltus completed the sentence for him. "Yes, old weasel. I knew you were always up to no good." The traitorous servants were able to put a face to the old skeleton's voice.

"Jadon, Keyla, be a dear and go retrieve the evidence. At this point I can't trust anyone else." The Count's heirs came right after Poltus, nodding, before running back to the house.

Knowing he was doomed, Zamon still found the strength to watch into the open grave, finding out that everyone was still alive, just bound and gagged by tendrils of earth.

Thinking about what would befall to him and his family, the old butler was filled with regret. The long years of loyal service, the savings of a lifetime, all those careful plans for his retirements, shattered together with his hopes for a better tomorrow for his sons.

**************

Lith sighed with relief, he could finally come out in the open. If he could, he would pat his back by himself, the results had far exceeded his expectations.

Since Solus couldn't find anything in the remaining rooms, Lith had her follow Lynna day and night, taking note of all those she was the most in contact with, to round them up all together for the final act.

Which by the way, had been quite a hassle to arrange. To avoid blowing his cover, Lith could only resort to chore magic and spells up to tier three, like the Hoovering spell he had applied to the Count.

He had explained everything in detail to the Count, to avoid him being scared or surprised by the special effects he had in mind. Lith, off course, said he would move the skeletons with air magic, while he was actually using spirit magic.

The blood tears trick was an easy one, chicken blood that he prevented to clot with light magic, while using water magic to make it go down the cheekbones, pass behind the ear and through the hair to get an endless stream effect.

The single steps were easy, but keeping all those spells active at the same time, manipulating flames, blood, skeletons, had been quite exhausting, even with Solus's help. She had taken care of half the stage, but the mana she used was Lith's.

They were like two divers with a single oxygen tank.

The Count too was very happy with the result.

"Ah! Ah! Ah! I always knew that magic is awesome! Flying has been such a memorable experience. Not to mention their faces!" Count Lark was laughing like a kid after a successful prank.

"You should have seen their faces! Priceless! I never had so much fun in my life." He patted Lith's shoulder, covering him in white powder.

"Who would have guessed that old ghost stories from my books could be so effective. With a little tuning here and there, off course!"

"For being a goodie-goodie two shoes, the Count is quite a trickster." Lith thought. "Despite being so averse to torture, he had no qualms scaring so many people sh*tless. Guess he never heard about psychological torture and PTSD."

As soon as they got their hands on the incriminating evidence, Count Lark immediately used his communication amulet to contact the King's Bureau of Law and Order to submit them.

The night clerk assured him that they would move his paperwork on the top of the list, and that they would send royal investigators to shed light on the case.

Translated from the bureaucratic lingo, it meant that the Count's case would now take days instead of weeks. Lith wouldn't take any risks, not after showing so much of his prowess, so he had the Count make his whole family come to the estate the very next day.

He sent them also some clothes he had prepared beforehand. In such a palace, the lowest stable boy was better dressed than them, even if they wore their best suits.

When they arrived, one way or another, all the staff was assembled to see first-hand the mysterious woman who had spawned the Count's alleged fifth son.

They expressed much admiration for his mother's and sisters' beauty, and even Raaz received a lot of attentions.

When Lith sent Solus to check if the rumour had finally died out, she replied with endless laughing out loud and an unbelievable story.

According to her report, the household was now split into two factions.

The first one, that she dubbed #TeamLith, was leaded by Poltus, which refused to step back from his initial theory.

"Who would have thought that such an airhead like the Count could also be such a schemer? Not only he got himself such a beautiful and young mistress, he also had the smarts to choose a woman whose husband resembles him so much that he would never suspect the son isn't his own! That witch of the Countess can't hold a candle to such gorgeous woman."

The second one, #TeamRaaz, was leaded by Hilya. She was the head of the kitchen staff, first chef and also Poltus oldest rival in terms of both authority and gossip skill.

"Are you gone senile or what? The Count is too noble and chivalrous to cheat, even on such a treacherous hag! Clearly, he had an affair before their wedding, and Sir Raaz is the offspring of that love.

That means that not only he is the real Count's fifth son, but that the young mage and his beautiful sisters are all his secret nephews! That's why he cares so much about the boy, and why he has brought them all here now that the Countess is dead set to wipe out the whole bloodline!

How noble of him! He probably has protected them from the shadows all these years, to keep them safe from his wife's jealousy and ire."

Lith didn't know if to laugh or cry.

"How the f*ck did we come to this?"

"Sorry." Solus shrugged. "It seems that the Count's staff has the hobby of making everything related to nobles look sordid. Thinking ill of something makes even coincidences looks interesting, don't you think?"

Lith shook his head in desperation.

"Poor mom. She is just a forbidden love triangle away from becoming the main character of one of those chick flicks that were all the rage a few years ago on Earth."

Aside from the gossip, life in the Count's private quarters was really peaceful.

Count Lark took the initiative to explain everything to Lith's parents, taking the blame entirely on himself, and giving only words of praise to their son.

Raaz and Elina were actually quite angry, and wanted to give Lith a solid piece of their mind. But after the Count apologized, even bowing to them, they were too embarrassed and flattered to say anything, at least in front of him.

The whole family could not stop staring at the house. Walls made of stone, the luxurious furniture, the carpets. Everything seemed to come out straight from a fairy tale. Until that day, they had always thought they would never see such riches.

Lith started to wonder how long would it take for them to come back down to earth, when breakfast arrived. The delicious and sweet smell of the pastries immediately caught their attention.

"Just great." Lith sighed inwardly. "I could expect my family's reaction to the Count's house, and luckily out hosts are overlooking their quite rude behaviour.

My only hope is that they don't jump on the food like starving wolves. That would be too embarrassing!"

"Party pooper! Let them be happy, so maybe they'll beat your a*s less when you get back home." Solus rebuked.

"Point taken."

As soon as the cart entered the room, Lith's family mimicked their hosts behaviour, politely sitting around the table in an ordered manner, waiting to be served.

That was also the first time someone outside the family was treating them with such care, the girls couldn't stop giggling.

"What the f*ck?" Lith was fairly surprised.

It wasn't a maid pushing the cart full of delicacies, it was Hilya herself, accompanied by some kitchen personnel that Solus identified as her posse. It was the first time that Lith saw her in the flesh, and soon he understood why.

Hilya personally served the Count's family and then his own, showering everyone with compliments and attentions.

Her followers did the same, but with more tact and less enthusiasm. When they left, there was enough food on the table to feed a battalion.

"#TeamRaaz rules, b*tch!" Solus screamed.

Count Lark was both embarrassed and flabbergasted. Hilya barely served him on his birthday, and he had no idea why his usually impeccable staff had taken such liberties with his esteemed guests.

Lith signalled him that he would explain later, before stopping everyone in their tracks, preventing them to take even a single bite.

Usually that would have garnered him a lot of nasty words, but in front of their host they had to shut up and listen.

The mention of the past poisoning attempts made them inwardly perform a 180° turn, going from demanding revenge to gratefulness in just a few words.

Lith wasn't willing to let his guard down, he kept checking every single plate and forcing them to drink only conjured water.

It was really depressing for his family, since he was the only one having tasted hot chocolate back on Earth, but they soldiered up.

In the following days, the forced cohabitation would have been much more awkward, if the Count's private quarters had not been bigger than their house.

The women, leaded by Keyla, took for themselves the bedroom, the biggest and most comfortable room, while the men had to settle up for the anteroom and its soft sofas.

There were no more assassination attempts, since all the gathered evidence had caused a fuss for the Countess, and by remaining stubbornly holed up in the best guarded and easily defensible part of the house, the Count left her with no openings.

Koya Lark had looked in every nook and cranny, searching for leverage, but the Count had no weakness she could exploit, and that nasty magico kid was even worse.

After a thorough background check, she discovered he had no friends and no family outside those he had brought with himself.

Killing or kidnaping his lost brother, Orpal, could be considered making him a favour at best. The only person remaining was Nerea/Nana, his mentor, but that was suicide. If the kid was so powerful, what were the limits of that old hag prowess?

The Countess could only curse herself for always ignoring his husband hobbies, she had no idea who she was, or what repercussions messing with her could have. She knew nothing about magic, except what her cousin, Genon said to her in the past.

And even then, she had only pretended to listen to him most of the times. She decided to keep that as a last resort, if everything else failed.

Meanwhile, Lith's family was quickly getting accustomed to living in such a splendid manor, wearing only beautiful clothes and eating delicious food.

Aside from the random scare caused by a guard's sneeze or an animal in the garden, life had turned into a fairy tale for them.

Lith, instead, was quite annoyed. Since the first day, the Count, Keyla and Jadon had showered with praises Elina, Rena and Tista for their perfect skin and luscious hair.

"I'm so envious of you, girls. I wish I could get rid of these things on my face." Keyla sighed. Over time the camaraderie between the young ladies had grown strong.

"Yeah, you are already so pretty. If only…" Tista threw Lith a meaningful look, that he pretended not to notice.

Jadon interest toward Rena was embarrassingly obvious, and while he tried looking at her stealthily, such attention in turn got him as many stone-cold glares from Lith.

"I get that he is just twenty and horny as a boar, but she is just fourteen. Back where I came from that's bad. Plus, unless he wants to marry her, I'd rather neuter him. I won't allow him to ruin her future, treating her like a fling! Over my dead body!"

Rena was flattered by both the young man's attentions and his little brother care. Yet she was just dazzled by the house, not stupid. Elina had warned her many times about the young men, nobles or not, that would try to take advantage of naïve young girls.

She would accept compliments, but refuse any improper gift and avoided remaining alone with him. When Keyla and the Count noticed that if Lith's glares could maim, Jadon could easily fit into an envelope, they had a private talk with him.

After that the air in the room became a lot lighter.

Finally, the Count received the notification via the communication amulet that the annulment was finally done. He was once again a free man.

After confirming that Koya had been notified too, hence she had no more reason to plot against him, he could finally relax and step out of his room for the first time since weeding out the traitors.

The first thing he and Lith did was to contact Nana to explain her everything.

"That's why you were so serious." She pondered. "And why you took away my only helper. Lark, when we meet again, we have to talk about compensation, my business suffered because of your family squabble." She nagged.

"There, there, Lady Nerea. It was a matter of life and death, and the young Lith proved to be decisive in solving the matter."

"Hmm. Sorry, but I have to go. I have a business to attend. We'll talk later, especially with you, young imp. This lack of trust wounds my old heart." She said trying to act all old and frail.

Lith bowed and asked for her forgiveness, but his thoughts were quite different.

"Do you even have a heart? I'd bet all I have that the only reason you are pouting is that you have missed such juicy gossip for so long."

Contrary to their expectations, Nana called only a few hours later, and their next conversation had an entirely different mood. Nana was laughing her a*s off the entire time, managing to speak only briefly while gasping for air.

"Ah! Ah! Ah! You can't believe what just happened to me! Someone just tried to kidnap me. I'm serious!" A long laughing pause followed.

"It made me feel young again, like when I was still an adventurer. Guys dressed in tacky full black clothes, coming at me from all directions, it was hilarious!

You should have seen their faces when I took them down at once with a Corona Discharge!"

According to the Count's books, it was a very strong tier five lightning spell, Nana's true specialty was air magic, after all. Lith had no idea what it was exactly, it was mentioned, but not described.

He had already enough troubles understanding tier four spells, they were on a league of their own compared to the magic he had previously learned.

"They were so cute! They even had some minor magical items on them. I have no use for such trinkets, but I can still sell them for good money."

Lith was so envious. Magical items! He had yet to find any.

"Hey, that's offensive!" Solus pointed. "I resent that!"

"You are not an item, you are a friend." The pure sincerity of that thought sent Solus giggling and blushing in a corner of her mind, away from Lith's perceptions unless he explicitly searched for her.

"That makes the three of us even." Nana said.

"I hadn't this much fun in decades. I was almost considering to let some of them go and not submit a report to the Mage Association. Almost. So, Lark, this is my annulment gift for you.

From now on, you can choose to introduce yourself as bachelor or a widower. I'd go with widower, is more dramatic, chicks dig rich lonely men and makes less awkward explaining why you have two children already. Ta-ta!"

After the communication ended, both the men were shocked to their bones.

"You told me that your wife handled stress badly, but this is beyond idiotic!" Lith even forgot the most basic etiquette.

"Indeed." The Count didn't seem to notice. "The only explanation is that Koya had arranged Lady Nerea's kidnapping in advance, and when she received the news about the annulment, it was too late to call it off.

She is a close friend to both of us. Koya's plan would make sense if Lady Nerea wasn't the strongest magician in all the County. Not to mention that even if the plan succeeded, the result would be disastrous anyway."

Count Lark sighed.

"Koya, you never listened to me when I talked about magic and its rules. I hope they don't make you suffer too much. You are still the mother of my kids."

Thinking about the destruction that was about to befall the whole Ghishal household, including his disowned children, he could not avoid shedding tears of regret and compassion.

Lith moved behind him, patting his back while using his sheer willpower to suppress a hysterical laughter.

Lith and his family spent two more weeks as the Count's guests, fully enjoying his hospitality and the beauty of the whole manor, especially the park.

Now everyone had a room of his own, there was no danger anymore. That meant that away from prying eyes, Rena and Tista could freely mock their little brother for the Count's painting and the heroic aura he had depicted him with.

Living everyday with Lith, they really couldn't see him as someone great or overbearing. He was always their little brother.

Lith paid them no mind, their laughter was something he had fought so hard to protect. As long that they laughed happily with him, instead of him, sibling mockery was perfectly acceptable.

Elina and Raaz, instead, were really scared by the stuffed Byk, considering that their son had been reckless enough to face such beast on his own. When they would get back home, they would give him a talk, but not now.

There was no point in spoiling their first vacation in over thirty years. For farmers vacations were just myths, like dragons.

Lith used that time to get acquainted with the huge magic library the Count had assembled over the years, finally discovering what Blood Resonance magic was.

It was a recently discovered branch of light magic, and by using it a mage could ascertain if two people were blood related or even to whom a blood sample belonged.

"Interesting, back on Earth this could become the foundations for forensics analysis. Seems that this mage, Duke Marth (AN: name, not title) is still alive and well, teaching magic in the White Griffon Academy.

This makes two famous mages residing there. Maybe Nana went to the Lightning Griffon because of her air magic prowess, while the White Griffon specializes in light magic. Or maybe is just a coincidence, whatever. It's too far from here for me."

Returning home revealed to be a bit traumatic for his family. No more servants, no more slacking off, no more all you can eat buffet 24/7. It took many days and even more sighs, but soon they returned to their old routine.

The Count's sharecroppers had done an excellent job, they even repaired and reinforced the house, making it seem brand new. The Count had also sent them home with lots of gifts.

All the clothes that had been prepared for them, a lot of make up from Keyla, and a whole crate of food from Hilya. The cook was really fond of the family, and couldn't wait to have them back in the manor.

A night, Lith was training his martial arts together with Solus, when she felt an unknown mana core approaching. More curious than worried, he made her return to his finger and set up various layers of protection around the house.

Whoever he was, he was alone and not very sneaky. Now that he had stop practicing, Lith could hear him getting closer. The night birds and insects had gone silent.

"Who the heck are you?" Lith asked as soon as their eyes met.

The man in front of him wore an expensive robe, worthy of a magician in Dungeons & Looting, but now was all dirty and ripped in many points. He was unshaven, his hair was muddy too, and with only moonlight Lith couldn't discern its colour from the dirt.

"You!" The man had a pleasantly surprised expression on his face. "You have finally returned! I have waited for weeks, sleeping in the mud and eating only acorns and berries, but it was worth the wait."

"I'll ask you only one more time, who are you?" Lith yawned, the man was not making any sense.

"I'm Genon Ghishal! You killed my entire family! Prepare to die!"

Lith reacted by laughing his a*s off.

"Oh! I get it now! Bravo on surviving despite belonging to a family of braindead idiots!"

"How dare you! I'll kill your whole family, like you killed mine!"

Lith started laughing even harder.

"You?! With your pathetic yellow mana core? Even my little sister is stronger than you." Lith's words and countenance made no sense to Genon.

Outraged by such lack of respect and fear, completely different from how he had imagined the face off, while enduring all the hardships, Genon started casting a Lightning spell.

Lith responded by bringing his index finger on the lips whispering:

"Hush! We don't want to wake up the neighbours."

A second air dome, beside the one that Lith had previously set up, enveloping the whole house, surrounded the two men, covering a thirty-meter (33 yards) radius.

"Brezza Inidra!" Genon completed his spell, a bolt of lightning shot toward Lith, which was still laughing.

"Look up!" He said pointing to the sky, and like an obedient dog, the bolt turned 90° up, rising harmlessly in the air before dissipating.

"Seriously?! A tier two spell? How the heck did you manage to graduate from whatever backwater academy they sent you?"

Genon suddenly felt scared, what he had just saw made absolutely no sense. Not even his teachers had ever done something like that.

"You know, I am really stressed." Lith stopped laughing, his tone turning cold and detached, like he was talking to himself rather than to his opponent.

"I have spent weeks holed up, pretending to be weak and harmless! Playing the good f*cking kid role! But now I can finally be myself."

For the first time since he had achieved the cyan mana core, Lith went all out. His body released a brilliant cyan aura, filled with killing intent. His bones and muscles started to pop and creak, moving to accommodate that sudden surge of power.

His eyes glowed like torches, emitting an ice blue radiance while his smile went to ear to ear. His teeth shined like fangs in the full moon light.

Genon was scared but not frozen, starting to cast a tier three fireball, the strongest spell he could cast safely without risking it to backfire.

Lith stood there, tilting his head left and right, waiting for him to finish.

The fireball was a five meters (5.5 yards) radius sphere of raging flames, but the closer it came to Lith, the more it shrank, until it became the size of the marble, allowing Lith to catch it with his open palm and squeezing it out with a puff.

"Tsk, tsk. You can use everything but fire magic. The noise isn't a problem, but the light could alert someone, and we don't want that."

Genon had no idea what was happening, but he knew that remaining there was too dangerous. That wasn't a magico, but a monster. He tried to run away, but before he could get out the Hush zone Lith was already pinning him down.

"First you threaten my family and now you want to leave? That's rude! The night is still young, and I have so many things to experiment on you, yet. Let's play!"

Despite the protective barrier, deep in the Trawn woods, the Ry, king in the east, could feel the magic turbulence growing stronger.

"Take heed, my pack. Some human has threatened Scourge's cubs. Let's learn from his mistakes and pray together for his soul, so in his next life he will be wiser for this."

The entire woods resounded with howls until dawn came.

The next day, Lith was happy and relaxed. He kept humming the whole time while he cleaned the house and prepared breakfast, reheating the pastries to make them regain some of their fragrance.

The long permanence in the Count's manor had proved to him how stressful it was being constantly forced to hide his skill and powers. Being born in a backwater village, were no one knew jack about magic was a blessing in disguise.

He had got too used to the freedom and isolation living in a farmhouse guaranteed him, to the point that holding back and constantly pretending to use fake magic for a prolonged period was akin to torture for him.

After a long discussion with Solus about the problem, they decided that the best course of action was to find a way to not attend any magic academy.

According to the magic annuals he had read in the last weeks, it was possible to become a member of the Magic Association despite being home-schooled. It just required a longer and more difficult exams session.

The biggest difference between a home-schooled and a magic academy graduate amounted only in a matter of fame and prestige.

By being admitted and successfully passing the tests devised by famous and talented magicians, the student was bound to have an easier time whatever was the path of his choosing.

A home-schooled, instead, no matter the score he could achieve, would always be seen like a rogue magician with no references. He would first need to prove himself, by either performing voluntary military service or becoming an adventurer.

Achieving merits was the only way for a rogue magician to have access to a prestigious and well-paid job. Lith didn't care for any of that, he just wanted to develop his powers, staying away from the spotlight until he reached sixteen years.

At that point, he would be considered an adult, and could finally leave Lutia to start exploring the world in search for a solution to his reincarnation problem.

If achieving true death turned out to be impossible, he would need to work his way around by either becoming an immortal or binding his soul to the current world.

That would be the worst-case scenario, but at least if he died, he would still be reborn with all his magic knowledge and have Solus by his side.

Thanks to the money he got from the Count for saving his family, Lith had no need to keep working as a healer. Only when Nana was on house calls or away for personal matters, he would take her place in the home office.

Many farmers relied on his presence and discounted prices to afford all the medical care they needed, Nana's fares were too expensive.

Just because at the moment he had no need for an extra income, it didn't mean he had already forgotten how bad it was for a family being forced to watch one of their loved ones suffer, the helplessness felt when money dictated the difference between living and barely surviving.

Lith would spend most of his mornings exploring the Count's library, in search for tomes to borrow.

It was a room twice the size of his house, at least one hundred squared meters (109 squared yards) big, located in a corner point of the main building.

Both the west and north side of the room had huge windows, arranged so that the sun would manage to perfectly light it until dusk.

The bookshelves were placed from wall to wall, parallel to each other, and spaced so to avoid ridiculous domino effect in case one fell over, creating four corridors. In the center of the room there was a luxurious desk and a couple of armchairs.

The books covered all the topics, not just magic, it was the sum of all the knowledge the Count had accumulated through the years. Every time Lith returned home from the library, he would carry over a small chest full of delicacies.

Hilya would never let him go away empty handed.

The first book Lith picked up, was the Lightning Griffon Academy rulebook. Together with useless information, like how submit your application and what were the most common admittance tests, he found an answer to an old question.

The academy would last five years, and each year the student would need to prove a rising level of mastery of magic. The first year required learning at least twenty tier one spells, the second one thirty tier two, and so on.

"So that's why spells are divided into tiers. It's to identify the skill level of the magico compared to the official academic course."

Tiers from one to three were comprised of simple spells with a single effect. Tier three was basically the same as a tier one, but much more powerful and with higher requirements in terms of talent and skill.

From tier four, the effects would be much more complicated, like when Lith weaved together different spells with true magic. Tier four and five, based on what he could find, seemed to be greatly similar to true magic.

"That's probably why most mages never learn the truth about magic. Once they think they have reached the pinnacle, they simply stop asking themselves questions. They put too much attention to the destination and too little on the trip itself."

Aside from magic, Lith was also burdened by an annoying personal problem. After seeing his family, the Count was begging him on daily basis to help his daughter get rid of her acne.

"Please, the Debutante Ball is when a young noble gets introduced to society as an adult, in the presence of the King's Court. It's a very important event that can affect her whole life.

It can change not only her chances of finding a good husband, she could also be handpicked by the Queen as her personal attendant or even lady-in-waiting."

It wasn't that Lith didn't understand, such events had existed on Earth too, more like he didn't care much. For his canons, only one person could keep a secret. Two were a risk, three a whole crowd. Adding a fourth one wasn't much to his liking.

"Solus, what do you think I should do? The Count has done and is still doing so much for me, a hard pass would be extremely rude on my side. At the same time, I don't know how much I can trust Keyla, being a teenager."

"I'd say to play it smart. Nana was extremely vague about what you did, and the Count has no idea about the before and after, since he only saw your family after the treatment.

Explain to Keyla the dangers you are putting yourself in just by helping her, and after you are sure she has understood, cure only her acne, nothing more. This will minimize the risks.

The fact that you saved her life should matter to her. Not to mention that after what her mother put Keyla through, she shouldn't be that naïve anymore. She knows what does it mean to live under a sword of Damocles."

Following Solus' advice, Lith and the Count explained to her all the possible consequences of breaking his trust, both for Lith and her family.

Keyla was a smart girl, so she felt kind of offended by receiving such obvious warnings.

"First of all, thank you for your trust. First you saved my life, and now you are willing to risk your own safety to save my social life too. This is a debt I will never be able to fully pay back.

Second, don't worry for a second about my silence. An advantage is called like that because you are the only one who has it. I would rather cut my tongue than allowing my competition to get their hands on something like that.

No offence, dad, but I know all too well we are just small-time nobles in a backwater County. I need all the help I can, and even with no acne, with our status and riches we are still leagues behind the big noble families."

Lith choose to play it safe, making the process last weeks instead of seconds, so that her skin treatment would go unnoticed.

They kept Jadon in the dark, and he only noticed the changes when her skin had become smooth and her make up much lighter.

Thanks to Solus he was also able to keep the female staff under his watch, and when not even them noticed anything strange, Lith could finally sigh with relief.

By that time, the Count's mansion was back at full staff, and the whole house was busy preparing for a big party. The Count wanted to celebrate two happy events.

The first was the annulment, while the second had been something completely unexpected. Based on his prenuptial arrangement, the Crown had decided to assign to him all the lands and annuities of the Ghishals after their untimely disappearance.

Sadly, he wanted Lith to attend, to introduce him to all the neighbouring nobility.

"It's really important for you, I managed to get even Marchioness Mirim Distar to attend. She is for me what I am to all the Barons and Baronets in the County. Her Marquisate encompasses all the region and its Counties.

If you can, prepare a good gift for her. The only suggestion I can give to you is to prepare something with your hands, or even better, with your magic!"

Lith was unimpressed and uninterested, but having to live another eight years in the Lustria County, he could only soldier up and move on. Making a gift for a woman was already hard, making one for someone much richer than him was a challenge.

"Does she like games?"

"Yes, she loves all kind of strategy games. She is a smart and cunning woman, if there will ever be a war, gods forbit it, she would make an excellent general."

"And I suppose she is the head of the Distar household, right?"

"Once again correct. Her spouse married into her family, he is like a prince consort, his title as Marquis is purely nominal. Don't tell me you already have something in mind?"

Lith nodded and left, very sad at the idea of wasting a whole afternoon and evening being a wallflower.

His destiny was akin to that of Gerda's corpse, something to show and brag about, before completely forgetting about it and move on next gossip piece.

Count Lark had another dress prepared for Lith, specifically tailored for the occasion. It was very similar to the other day-dress he had received in the past, but black in colour and with a more elegant cut.

"It's amazing how similar party dresses are compared to Earth customs. All men wear almost the same dress, the only significant difference is the household crest embroidered on the chest pocket.

Instead, the women all wear different types of dresses, varying in colours, neckline and embroideries. Not to mentions the jewellery. Aside from family rings, men wear only monocles or pince-nez. They really resemble a flock of penguins."

Lith kept himself from the crowd as long as he could, there was nothing he could gain except awkward memories or curious looks.

Marchioness Distar revealed to be really important to Count Lark, to the point that he arranged their meeting privately in his quarters, while the party was taking place in the ballroom.

"Thank you so much for coming, dear Marchioness. You have no idea what it means for me having the possibility to share such a happy moment in your company."

"The pleasure is all mine, dear Lark, I wouldn't miss it for anything in the world." Her lips were smiling, but her eyes didn't.

Lith's instinct could tell that she was actually quite bored, and that she was there only because the Count must had persevered relentlessly to make her attend. He knew from experience how stubborn he could be.

Based on what the Count had told him, Marchioness Distar should be a woman in her late thirties, but even with the little make up she wore, it was hard to imagine her a day older than thirty.

She had a beautiful face with great proportions, eyes brimming with intelligence and curiosity. She wore her waist-long straight hair down, with no hairpin or barrette to adorn them.

She had dark brown hair, with shades of blue all over it. It was almost hypnotic to look when she shook her head.

Her evening dress was of a pale blue, with no neckline, covering even her shoulders. In contrast to all the other noble dames, the Marchioness wore evening gloves, and there were no gemstones embroidered in her attire.

She had clearly chosen a plain dress, hoping to either go unnoticed or leave early.

"This is the boy I talked you about so much." The Count laughed. "He is incredibly skilled, wise beyond his age and according to Lady Nerea, he is blessed by the light."

"Really?" The Marchioness didn't believe a word, but ruffled Lith's hair nonetheless.

Lith could feel that such gesture of intimacy was out of place, coming from such a grand dame. It also had no warmth at all. It felt more like a dog show judge checking the fur, rather than a caress.

"Sigh, as predicted, Trequill has once again wasted my time." The Marchioness thought. "It's just another of his childish delusions, finding a talented male mage in such scarcely populated land.

I would really love to tell him that the reason why women and magical beasts have coloured shades in their hair is the sign of the blessing from the six gods of magic. It would save so much of his efforts and my time.

Too bad that the Mage Association would make a huge fuss if I did. Those old fogeys and their reluctancy to reveal even such an open secret. Everyone in the King's Court knows it, be him/her a mage or not."

Lith could see she was disappointed, but had no idea why. Eager to go back home and do something actually meaningful, he bowed to her.

"My name is Lith of Lutia, your Ladyship. I'm glad and honoured to make your acquaintance. Please, accept this humble gift. Is not much, but I made it myself."

The Marchioness was pleasantly surprised.

"At least this country bumpkin acts humbly and knows the proper etiquette, instead of being all arrogant like he owns the place, unlike all his predecessors."

"Thank you, I'm much obliged." It's what she actually said even before opening the envelope.

It turned out to be a square shaped wood board, with sides about fifty-one centimetres (20 inches) long, with eight columns and rows of black and white alternating colours of wood.

After checking it with the Count, Lith couldn't be bothered much finding a proper gift, and went straight plagiarizing the game of chess.

The Marchioness interest was piqued, she had never saw anything like that before. The board was accompanied by the chess pieces and a booklet explaining all the rules.

Th differences from the common chess game were few but significant. First, the king and queen roles were swapped. Lith had to suck up to an important woman, making the king the game goal was plainly stupid.

Also, he renamed the bishops as mages and the pawns as commoners. Everything else was as it was supposed to be.

The Marchioness read the rules so fast that Lith thought she was simply skimming, instead she asked him a precise question.

"Why the commoners can become any chess piece if they reach the end of the board?" Although he had considered unlikely, Lith had prepared for this question, giving the answer the usual fortune cookie wisdom that the Count so much liked.

"Because when someone, even a commoner, completes his journey toward wisdom, life holds endless possibilities. After all, even the King's ancestors at some point have been simple commoners, before rising to power."

The Marchioness giggled softly.

"Well, it seems that at least the part about the wisdom is true." She thought.

"Fancy a game? Seems really interesting. You could show me the ropes. It would be a nice way to get to know each other better. You can understand a lot about a person based on how he plays, wins, but most importantly how he accepts loss."

Such outcome was completely out of his expectations. Lith was taken aback, he knew very little about chess, aside from the rules. He had never liked the game much, he found it to be too long and boring.

Why waste time with some pieces of wood, with so many VR games available on Earth? He had learned to play when he was very little, after reading a wonderful book about a chess player, but his experience had been far from pleasant.

He was too reckless and impatient, barely able to think one move ahead. Lith found no pleasure or emotion while playing chess, to him it was like a solitaire where you have to wait minutes to turn a single card.

Luckily, he was never alone. Solus had fallen in love with the game since she saw it in Lith's memories, viewing all the matches he had in the past and the ones he spectated.

"Solus take the wheel! Save me, please!"

"It would be a pleasure, your Ladyship."

After sitting at a table, the games began.

Even from her first game, the Marchioness proved to be incredibly intelligent, cunning and bold. She was able to think at least five moves in advance, always trying to figure out Lith's intentions and weak points.

Too bad for her, Lith barely knew what he was doing. He was the perfect straw man for hiding Solus real plans. He would just move the pieces as she instructed him to.

"You defeated her in barely thirty moves. Shouldn't you be a little more kind to her?"

The Marchioness clicked her tongue, asking for a rematch.

"To a smart woman like that? She would notice and get offended, naïve man."

"Maybe if you went easier on her earlier, she wouldn't notice now!"

"And where's the fun in that?"

Lith was flabbergasted.

"This is not a matter of fun! We're sucking up to her, remember?"

"Opps! My bad."

"Opps my pale a*s!"

Solus started to slow things down, but after just a few moves the Marchioness showed a displeasured face before toppling her queen.

"I clearly underestimated you and your game. I need more time to get acquainted with all the possibilities." She extended her hand, and Lith shook it.

She had a gentle but firm grip, Lith could feel no hostility from her.

"Mind if I show it around? I need opponents to get some practice."

"It's all yours. You can do anything you want with it."

After that, Lith left the two nobles discussing between them, all too happy to get away from that torture chamber.

After asking Jadon if he was finally allowed to leave (in a polite manner, off course) and getting a no as an answer, Lith was left pondering on what had just transpired.

"Hmm, maybe there is a silver lining in you crushingly defeating that woman."

"Really?"

"Yes. If we want to avoid being forced to enrol in a Magic Academy, we could just as well sabotage ourselves a little.

We already know that the Count has not the means to ensure our admittance. If we piss off the nobles a little, just enough for them to not back his recommendation, we'll avoid the whole thing without offending the Count."

"Good idea! Even if indirectly, you have already caused both the Ghishal and Trahan households to fall. Probably in the nobles' eyes you already have quite some demerits. You are already halfway there, you're quite good at being disliked."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Lith turned sour.

Solus inwardly cursed herself for the slip of the mind, and avoided apologizing. In that moment would only add fuel to the fire.

For the first time in years, Lith was actually hurt by those words, his anger silently rose.

When he heard someone belittling his endeavour of killing Gerda, he sized the opportunity to set his plan in motion.

It was a couple, likely father and son, commenting on the stuffed Byk exposed in a corner of the room.

"It's not that big." Said a chubby middle-aged man that barely managed to reach Gerda's navel with his head. "I'm sure you could have killed it too, Frenon."

"I don't know dad." Replied the ten years old kid that shared a striking resemblance with the man, only younger and thinner. "It seems big to me. And look at those fangs and claws. This Lith must be crazy to get near something like this."

"Bah!" Scoffed the man, making his double chin and his waxed brown curls tremble. "If you kill it with magic, there is no need to get close. It's just that simple. How can you be less bold than a commoner? I pampered you too much."

"I beg your pardon?" A stone-cold voice reached them from behind.

The two turned around, trembling visibly. They had recognized Jadon's voice, the future Count Lark and lord of their lands.

Even in his anger, Lith wasn't so reckless, he just ratted them out to his noble friends, leaving the dirty job to them.

"That was quite a rude remark, Baronet Hogum." Keyla's voice was fierce and loud, resounding through the whole room.

Lith was many times her benefactor, and hearing such a blatant lack of respect in her own house was simply too much to bear. Jadon thought the same, but his sister had butted in at the right moment, forcing him to step back momentarily.

"Ah! Ah! Ah! There's a misunderstanding." The Baronet title was the lowest, getting on the Lark's family black book was beyond bad.

"Are you implying we are both deaf or just stupid? Did you hear what I did too, dear brother?"

"I heard a nasty remark about one of our honoured guests, dear sister."

Before things could escalate further, the Marchioness chimed in.

"There, there. It's a party, let's try to be friends and not spoiling the mood."

Her appearance made all heads turn, the chatter instantly stopped.

"Besides, it's so simple to separate the wheat from the chaff. What about a little magic challenge?" The room roared in an applause.

Under the Marchioness lead, the crowd moved outside. The park was already perfectly lit up, since after dinner the party was supposed to move outside, to enjoy the fresh night breeze while drinking properly aged liquors.

She made the two boys stand twenty meters (22 yards) from each other, before explaining the rules.

"This will be a friendly match, so it ends on first blood. Only magic is allowed. I want no underhanded tricks, also seriously harming the opponents is prohibited. A mage without control is no different from a violent drunkard."

Strangely, the Marchioness said that while looking only at Lith, and that pissed him off even further.

"So, just because I'm a commoner, she treats me like a barbarian? So much for losing with grace! Such a hypocrite."

"I'll be the judge. If I say stop, you better stop." Fuel was added to the fire.

Both the youths nodded. Lith put his arms behind his back.

"You know, I really wouldn't be in your shoes. If you win, you prove nothing. You would have just beaten a lowly commoner, like everyone expects you to. But if you lose…" Lith paused dramatically, still waiting for the start signal.

"Wouldn't be terrible, losing in front of all these people, proving to be less talented and bold than a commoner?"

The young Baronet started gulping loudly, turning constantly toward the crowd, suddenly realizing the pressure of the challenge.

"Begin!"

When the Marchioness voice rang out, he was so stiff that he had yet to move, when Lith opened his palm while yelling.

"Scram!"

A powerful gust of wind made Baronet Hogum fall on the ground.

"Lith of Lutia wins!"

The crowd was surprised, a murmur started spreading like wildfire.

"Why did she stop the match so suddenly?" Everyone asked.

The Marchioness helped the boy to get up and brought him closer for them to observe. There was a shallow cut on his left cheek, going from his nose to the ear.

"Just with chore magic?" "From that distance?" "Impressive. That's how he has single-handedly killed a Byk."

Lith puffed his chest, his anger subsiding enough for him to avoid further mockery on the expenses of his defeated opponent.

A small girl quickly rushed to the Marchioness, making a perfect bow to her while whispering something, her face all smiles and pleasantries.

She was so petite to appear ageless to Lith. She could be eight years or thirteen years old, he couldn't tell. She was definitely flat as a board, with gold blonde hair with shades of red. Her dress had gemstones the size of an acorn embroidered into it.

"The brat must be loaded." Lith thought.

"Be careful. While the boy was just a yellow core, she has a green one." Solus warned him.

Lith inwardly scoffed.

"Lucky b*stard."

"Lith, this is Minnea Tristarm, daughter of the Viscount Tristarm. Minnea, this is Lith from Lutia."

"Nice to meet you." The girl performed a barely noticeable curtsy.

"The pleasure is all mine." Lith returned the rudeness, by performing such a small bow that it could be easily confused with him checking if his shoelaces where properly knotted.

"Minnea was really impressed by your feat, and would like to challenge you to a different kind of competition."

"It would be an honour performing for her Grace. My father had tried for so long to get an audience with your Ladyship."

"Obnoxious brat!" Lith thought. "She has been watching the Marchioness the whole time, speaking like I'm not even here. You are in for a surprise."

They moved back into the ballroom, were the servants promptly prepared a small round table. A single candle was standing on its center.

"This is a magical competition that's really popular within the capital." The girl kept looking at the Marchioness, while she explained the game with a condescending tone.

"Real mages are not mindless brutes. Real power comes from the mind."

"Spare me the details and explain the rules." Lith tone was even more condescending.

"It's really simple." Minnea looked at him for the first time.

"Each of us picks a colour, the one that manages to keep the candle of the chosen colour for ten seconds is the winner. Is it clear?"

Lith yawned.

"I'll take the yellow."

"And I the red, like my hair. Is my favourite colour."

When the Marchioness gave the start signal, Minnea tried her best to turn the candle to red, while Lith was checking his nails length, yawning from time to time.

Soon the ten count was completed, and he tried to walk away.

"Wait! I demand a do over." The girl was bright red from the embarrassment.

"Why?" Everyone asked.

"Do you realize that keeping control of a flame is much easier than taking it over?"

Lith could easily see through her allegations.

"Are you insinuating that by exploiting the natural colour of the candle I took control of it before the challenge started, getting an unfair advantage?" He laughed.

"You can understand a lot about a person, based on how she plays, wins, but most importantly how she accepts loss." Lith quoted, looking straight in the Marchioness eyes.

"Let's have a do over, then. This time I'll pick cyan. Feel free to get a head start. I'll commence my attack only when the flame is completely red, so we'll be even. Agreed?"

Eager to restore her wounded pride, Minnea nodded while she was already turning the candle to a bright red.

"Can I?" When both the Marchioness and Minnea nodded, Lith started sending tendrils of mana toward the candle.

Slowly but inexorably, many cyan spots appeared inside the flame, taking it over in less than a minute.

"I yield." Minnea didn't wait for the ten count, the outcome was painfully clear to her.

"Do you want another do over?" Lith hissed bending forward, getting really close to her face, his eyes reduced to fiery slits brimming with mana.

"Lith, your mana is overflowing." Solus warned him.

"Let it burn."

Minnea shook her head, before running back to her father.

No one dared to challenge him anymore.

The rest of the evening was full of chattering and gossiping, but otherwise uneventful.

"This should be plenty enough to make any academy in the region reject our application."

End of book 1

Almost four years had passed, and over time many things had changed.

Two years ago, when Lith was still ten years old, Rena had reached adulthood. She participated to the Spring Maiden contest, winning it by a landslide.

Between the clothes from the Count, the make-up from Keyla and the beauty treatment from Lith she had basically no competition.

She has soon started to hang out with several young promising bachelors, before finding the right one. His name was Senton, and he was the son of the blacksmith.

After dating for almost a full year, they were ready to marry.

In that same year, Tista had reached her growth spurt at the age of twelve. She was officially healed from her congenital condition and had started to practice fake magic under Lith's and Nana's guidance.

Her mana core had become deep green, and according to Solus, there was still space for it to grow at least up to bright green. Tista was finally able to get out of the house without supervision, starting to make friends with the children of the neighbours.

It was too late for her to try to attend to a Magic Academy, she barely knew the basics of chore magic, but she didn't mind. After being prisoner of her own body for so many years, she had no interest in perpetual challenges.

The only thing she really wanted was to enjoy her new life, trying out all the things that had been forbidden to her before. Becoming a magica and inheriting one day Nana's business was already beyond every expectation she ever had.

Even Lith's household had deeply transformed. Between his magic, the help from the Count and all the money he was able to earn, the walls were now made entirely of stone, only the floor and the roof were still wooden.

He had also built a new bedroom for himself that served as a study too. Lith was getting too old to keep sleeping with his sisters, and had no intention of moving in with Trion.

He demanded his personal space and privacy, and since he was the one paying for it, no one could make any objections.

As for Lith himself, he had changed deeply, at least physically. Despite having yet to become twelve years old, he was already one meter and sixty centimetres (5'3") high. His thin and scrawny build was only a memory.

Now he had broad shoulders, his muscles were well developed but not ripped, rather cleverly chiselled. He didn't want to stand out nor to carry useless weight, Lith wasn't planning on becoming a soldier, after all.

He was plenty content with a far from average build and a body that was able to react instantly, according to his will. His mana core was still cyan, but not deep anymore, halfway through the light cyan that would precede the next evolution.

A mana core on the strong end of the spectrum had proven to be much stronger that the previous ones, but at the same time it put a much stronger burden to Lith's body. He had reached a bottleneck that couldn't be overcome with training or study.

Only after hitting his growth spurt, his body would become strong enough to allow him to refine further the mana core. Before such event, the use of Accumulation would bring to him only pain and no benefits.

(AN: Accumulation is the breathing technique that allows Lith to absorb the world energy into his mana core, making it grow stronger through expansion and shrinking cycles, with the mana core turning of a lighter colour at every cycle.

See the end of chapter 7 and chapter 9 for more details)

Also, since now all of his clothes had the Lark's household crest on either the shoulder or the chest pocket, he made full use of his newfound authority, protecting the village in Nana's absence. For a fee, off course.

The only criminals he would take out for free, were those with a nice "Dead or Alive" bounty on their heads. Lith would strictly deliver them feet first.

Now that he was almost twelve, the number of spells and the skill level he could reveal had increased exponentially, since now he officially had more than six years of magical training.

Seeing him fly around or hunting for pelts or bounties had become a common occurrence in the Lutia village. By having three healers and two protectors, the village kept growing in fame, size and population.

It was only thanks to him that Rena and Senton were able do date each other. Previously, the idea of the son of an artisan marrying the daughter of a humble farmer would have been preposterous.

Inside, though, Lith had changed very little. He was still the cynical, mistrustful broken man he had always been, with no real friend or loved one outside his family and Solus.

Having to deal with criminals, chasing away profligate boys that molested his sisters and interacting with the nobles, had further rooted in his mind the idea that mankind, even in the new world, was a plague that he had to avoid.

His only real confident was Solus, and despite all her attempts, she had not been able to change his mind, even one bit.

He was also in a very bad mood.

"Dammit, tier four spells are really hard. I can manage to reproduce them with true magic, but I still feel they are somewhat lacking. Either when I cast them with true or fake magic, something keeps feeling amiss."

"Yeah." Solus mind nodded. "Maybe is just my impression, but this kind of spells is supposed to hold some deep and profound concept that we are not able to grasp. Maybe, if we had access to tier five books…"

"Ifs and buts are just a waste of time. Who would have ever thought that Count Lark wouldn't buy them? He is still dead set to send me to the Lightning Griffon academy, no matter how many times I repeated I preferred being home-schooled."

"Well, you knew how stubborn the Count can be. Also, from his point of view, not buying the books kills two birds with one stone. He manages to save a mountain of gold and forces you attending the academy at the same time."

During those four years, Lith had relentlessly tried to convince the Count that an Academy was not good for him, even resorting to use the need to protect his family and the village as a leverage.

Bu the Count was immovable.

"Dear Lith, you have a dire need of the Academy, and I say this only in your best interest. I cannot stress out how important is to learn how to properly interact with your peers and establishing the right connections.

Not to mention that you have no friend of your age! You need to socialize, fall in love, even. Otherwise you'll grow into a cranky and cynical man."

"Been there, done that." Solus giggled.

"Also don't worry for your family. As soon as you enrol, they'll gain a newfound status, and until your graduation the Magic Association will take personal care of them. At that point, not even the most reckless madman would try something funny."

Lith had run out of excuses, and could not tell him the truth.

He was sick and tired of being looked down by nobles and foreign merchants, and even resorting to violence or intimidation after a while had lost much of its luster.

Lith just wanted to be left in peace and treated with respect, like any normal human being.

He didn't know how long he could suffer the contempt and abuse from his so called "peers" at the Academy, before shoving their high and mighty attitude up their throat, after taking detour through their a*ses.

The idea of not being able to practice true magic, spirit magic and fusion magic was enough to give him a big headache. In an Academy he would be crippled, losing all of his advantages to not blow his cover.

It was a lose-lose situation.

Lith's mood was made even worse by the thought of Rena moving out the household. After what happened to Carl, he had developed an obsessive-compulsive need to know where everyone was at any given time.

He needed to feel that everything was under his control to be in peace with himself.

"If you really love them, you have to let them go." Solus tried to console him.

"After all, Academy or not, when you reach sixteen years and leave the house, what are you going to do? Stuff them and store them in the pocket dimension? You need to learn to let go and focus on what's really important for you.

If you really wanted to make them your puppets, you wouldn't have cured Tista. Her illness was the perfect leash, yet you willingly choose to free her. They are not Carl. The whole world is not filled with trash like the one that killed him."

Lith's mind recognized the truth in her words, but his heart refused to. It would keep screaming "F*ck the world! They are mine! Mine! Mine!"

"Is this what a father feels when his children leave the nest?"

He couldn't avoid noticing that even Raaz, despite all the smiles and happiness he showed, was actually quite depressed losing his eldest daughter.

"If I'm like this with adults, I'm afraid to discover what I would become if children were involved. It seems I am destined to be single for life."

Now that Lith was eleven year and a half, he had reached the minimum age requirement to apply for a scholarship at the Lightening Griffon academy.

Count Lark was waiting for him at his manor, from where they would travel to their destination by stagecoach. According to the Count, flying in the vicinity of any building owned by the Mage Association was strictly forbidden.

Even to get in the vicinity was needed a special pass and to have set up an appointment through the proper channels.

The academy wasn't that far, but using a stagecoach would require several hours of boredom. While looking through the window, Lith could only hope that all those years of preparations and self-sabotaging would pay off.

Being actually accepted in such an institution, away from home, would be the beginning of his worst nightmare.

It was in moments like that that Lith felt how heavy a bottleneck was. Normally, in such a situation, he would use Accumulation, turning a downtime into a training session while also studying how his body was developing.

But now that option was unavailable, and being stuck in such state for almost a year, he knew his body inside out, to the point of memorizing where every impurity was located.

After half an hour, he was about to fall asleep.

"Hope the Count doesn't mind me snoring a little."

"Lith, why don't we open Nana's goodbye gift? I'm really curious." Solus said.

"I'm not. That stingy old hag just gave me a piece of paper. I bet it's a list of souvenirs she wants me to buy for her."

A small friendly bet was better than doing nothing, so he took out the small envelope and read its content. Lith had lost the bet, it was a brief letter.

"Dear Lith,

Now that you are going to a Magic Academy, away from the prying eyes of your parents, you deserve to know the truth. Chore magic holds a forbidden spell that I never taught you. Now you are old enough to know."

It followed a short but precise description on how to use darkness magic on himself to avoid unwanted consequences from the intimacy with girls. It was a birth control spell. The letter closed with a

"Remember to always be a gentleman and have fun! You'll thank me later.

With love, Nana"

"What a dirty old lady. I'm not even twelve." Lith couldn't stop from laughing out loud. The idea of Nana being the one worrying about his sex life was hilarious.

"It's this about something Lady Nerea wrote? An anecdote? Can I see it too?" The Count was very curious, seeing Lith laugh was a rare occurrence.

After reading the message, Count Lark became purple from embarrassment. The scene made Lith laugh even louder.

"Oh my, the Count is such a softie. Getting flustered by such stupid thing. Sometimes he seems straight out of a manga."

"Lith, this is no laughing matter." The Count said.

"I appreciate Lady Nerea concern, but I still find it ill-timed and vulgarly expressed. The matters of the heart should be treated with more tact, especially with someone young as you are."

Lith couldn't help but renew his laughter.

"He really called it 'matters of the heart'! It's just sex, man!"

The light mood didn't last long, the long trip soon made both the men fall asleep.

When the coachman woke them, they were already arrived.

The sight of the Lightning Griffon academy was truly impressive.

The building itself seemed an enormous castle, straight from the wet dreams of a medieval engineer. Yet it was impossible to see it clearly, they were still too far.

The academy was in the center of a huge forest that extended in all directions as far as the eye could see.

"That explains why it's so distant from populated areas, is basically a County of its own. The forest may even have an extension superior to the Trawn woods." Lith thought.

"Why do we stop here? We are still very far, how are we supposed to reach the academy?"

The Count was excited like a kid in a candy store.

"Don't worry and follow me."

He brought Lith to a small brick house on the edge of the forest, were two men were sipping tea while idly chatting.

The Count introduced himself and showed them their permits.

The man that was now holding the papers whispered a few words, the ink rearranged itself, coming out of the sheet and forming some kind of magic circle on the ground.

"Even the permits are a magical item?" Lith was shocked.

"I sensed some mana coming from them, but I supposed it was just some kind of magical seal of authenticity, not something this complex." Solus explained.

"Sh*t! We are completely in the dark about magical items, and there's no mention of it in any book we read so far. Either we find a way to correct this situation, or our travels will be much more difficult in the future."

Following the man's instructions, Lith and the Count stepped inside the circle, that instantly became a translucent yellow sphere.

It gently rose up in the air, before starting to fly at break-neck speed toward the castle. Despite it was moving faster than Lith ever did before, they felt no different than standing on the ground.

"This thing is like gyrostabilized! What a brilliant idea!" For the first time Lith was almost regretting is choice. Almost.

The trip was short, but Lith still managed to see many huge magical beasts running inside the forest. They even almost collided with an eagle the size of a piper aircraft. Its eyes were full of scorn, shrieking at them something that sounded a reprimand.

"Is it me, or there are only magical beasts in there?" Lith asked the Count, who nodded.

"Yes, magical beasts and monsters, off course. They'll explain everything to you once you enrol." The Count had a fatherly tone, but Lith could clearly hear a hint of condescension 'I told you so'-like.

The sphere landed on a balcony before dissipating. A twenty-year-something girl wearing a magician robe was waiting for them.

She guided them through magical escalators and corridors, before leaving them into the Headmistress antechamber. She had talked via a small communicator amulet the whole time, giving orders about menial duties.

In Lith's experience, that meant bad news. Whenever he had a job interview, the secretary attitude towards the applicants was a tell about how the company treated his employees and what where their expectations about a candidate.

She had ignored them the whole time, not giving them a tour or an explanation about any of the magical marvels they had encountered.

For someone who wanted to be rejected, though, it was good news.

The Count was too mesmerized to notice, his eyes were moving to every single piece of furniture, his mouth agape in admiration. The room itself was a prodigy.

Despite no visible source of light, be it windows, torches or light stones, every nook and cranny were lighted as the morning sun was shining above their heads.

"What do you think of this?" The Count asked as a rhetorical question, expecting Lith to show an enthusiasm equal if not superior to his.

"Honestly? I find it pretentious and stuck-up. Everything in the room feels like his master is looking down on us, trying to intimidate the guest and put him in his place."

"Really?" The Count's dream bubble popped up abruptly.

"Yeah. I mean little splendour is fine, but this? It's too much." He pointed at the gold decoration that kept shifting to silver and platinum, and at the gemstones embroidered at every corner, like shining eyes staring at them with contempt.

"Also how do you explain otherwise that girl rude attitude? She barely looked at us at all."

"Oh dear." The Count gulped. "Now that you point that out, this room resembles very much the King's antechamber for the unwanted guests."

"Is there such thing?" Lith was curious.

"Yes, is kind of an open secret. The King's room has more than one waiting room, depending on how much he cares about the visitor. The one for the unwanted guests is filled with tacky stuff like this, to remember the visitor the Crown's power.

It's also filled with painting depicting the previous Kings and Queens slaying rebellious nobles or mages. Depends on whom he wants to pressure."

"Like these ones?" Lith pointed to many magical paintings, all of them where short movies, showing how the Mage Association got rid of entire families of unruly nobles throughout history.

The event depicted would go to the point of showing the bloodshed, the mansions set aflame, before starting to tell their story back from the beginning.

"Precisely." The Count swallowed loudly.

Expecting to have to wait for hours, Lith made himself comfortable, trying to get asleep again. He wasn't disappointed. When the Count woke him up, he could see from his face that he had quite some pent-up stress.

He had waited patiently for long enough to get the message.

"Don't say a word. If we want to salvage this thing, we need tact and diplomacy. Leave everything to me." Count Lark said with barely a whisper.

The Headmistress' office was much less tacky than her antechamber, resembling very much a common principal office from Earth. She was a woman at least as old as Nana, but time had been kinder to her.

Her face was full of wrinkles, but her eyes were full of energy and life. Unlike Nana, she was ready to live a long life and stood straight as a string

Her hair was almost completely grey, only some shade of yellow still remained. She wore a robe with the colours of her academy, it was of a light blue, while all the decorations were of a bright yellow, most likely gold.

The way its fabric had been woven, made it seem like every movement of the Headmistress was the wind moving through the sky, while the gold embroidered appeared and disappeared like sudden lightnings.

She had only smiles and nice words, but Lith's instinct could sense no warmth in her.

"Dear Count, we haven't met for too long!" She extended her hand to him.

"You are too kind. It's only my fault that I can't bring you enough promising youths." The Count's poker face was impeccable. All traces of stress and anxiety had disappeared. His words were calm and gentle, like meeting a long-lost sister.

"Please, have a seat. Sorry for the long wait, but as you know this is the busiest time of the year." The apology sounded fake like a three-dollar bill.

"Do not apologize, I completely understand. Now, sorry if I go straight to business, I do not want to waste any more of your precious time."

The Count took out a folder that contained a chronicle of all feats Lith had accomplished, together with his official merits count.

The Headmistress pushed the folder back.

"No need. We always do a full background check on every applicant. I must say that you brought me a really interesting fellow."

This time it was Lith turn to gulp loudly, cold sweat going down his spine.

"What the heck did I do wrong?"

She took out a folder of her own, much thicker than the previous one.

"I can see that this young man, Lith, has earned a lot of merits by healing the poor and by getting rid of many of the menaces that threatened your County. Did you know that the criminal underworld has nicknamed him Scourge?"

"Beats me how the heck my beast title reached their ears. How can delinquents and magical beasts view me in the same way?" Lith thought.

"It seems that he likes his bounties dead as a doornail, and that's good. Being merciful with the scum of earth can only bite you in the back, sooner or later. He also had quite a number of magical challenges with some noble youths."

"And that's bad, right?" Lith clenched his fist, full of expectation.

"That's good too. A true mage must not fear to defend himself or his name, in our business talent and power are more important than etiquette.

Not to mention that those who have not the skill, should not fly too close to the sun and then complain about getting burned."

Lith felt like the earth was collapsing under his feet.

"So instead of sabotage I self-promoted all this time?! F*ck me sideways!"

"But…" Suddenly Lith's hopes revived, like a phoenix risen from its ashes.

"… sadly, I must say that he doesn't meet the requirements for a scholarship. I'm really sorry."

"F*ck yes! I forgive you, deceiving b*tch! I did it, and that's what matters."

The Count turned pale as a ghost.

"May I know why? Talent, skill, heart. I dare to say he is the best one I ever brought here so far." His voice was broken, Lith felt bad for the poor man.

"Off course you can, you deserve to know. You see, the real problem lies not in your protégé, but rather in his mentor."

"Excuse me?" Blood flushed back in the Count's face.

"Nerea is a fallen mage, akin to a disowned son of the academy, if not of the whole Mage Association. Like for nobles is forbidden to help a relinquished of their own, the same stands for us, or at least for me.

She has brought shame to the institution, and up to this very day she keeps meddling with us. Not to mention that even if indirectly, Lith has been involved in the purge of two noble households.

As a mage, I can't stress enough how despicable I find dragging the Mage Association into every single petty squabble. It's an abuse of power, and I want to send a message to all the rogue mages out there by rejecting her disciple.

You can try bringing him to other academies, but I think their answer will be the same."

"What?!" The Count was now bright red, his eyes almost popping out from the rage.

"Lady Nerea has protected and helped Lustria County for years, while everyone else did nothing! This young man saved my life, my family.

He did what he did only for self-preservation, and you are telling me that you are willing to ruin his life for your own petty revenge? For politics?"

"How dare you speak to me like that in my office!" The Headmistress jumped up from her armchair, her eyes glowing with power.

"I dare! I double dare and call this bullsh*t!" Lith never thought the Count to be such a brave fighter.

"You are just sacrificing a mage, and a powerful one, for your own political gain! Lith, let's go. The air stinks in here."

Before going out the door, the Count turned back, yelling.

"This doesn't end here! I'll let everyone know how the Lightning Griffon has stooped. You'll never get again a single copper coin from my County or any of my retainers. And by the way, he is the inventor of the chessboard on your desk."

The door slammed behind them, without giving her the opportunity to rebuke.

"Man, seriously? So much for tact and diplomacy. You are a mall cog in a big machine. Your threats are nothing but wishful thinking."

Lith happiness was clouded by the worries about the consequences that the Count's fit of rage could have on both his homeland and his friend. Count Lark had fought for him fiercely, and that was something Lith would never forget.

The Count was true to his word, and the news about what happened in the Lightning Griffon academy spread like wildfire in Lustria County.

The villagers of Lutia and its outskirts were simply outraged. Life was already hard as it was, the idea that even if talented a commoner had to suffer from political plays was a slap in the face of all their hopes and dreams.

Despite her attitude, Nana was a saviour to most of them, to the point of considering her part of their own family. Countless people knew all too well that without her, too many babies would have never been safely delivered.

Seeing their benefactor treated as a plague, tainting everything she touched, was too much to bear. The same thing applied to those few noble families she associated with for her personal affairs.

Hundreds of letters were sent to Count Lark, who in turn forwarded them to the King's Court. Now that he had regained his cool, he realized how of little importance was his County and funding to such a large institution like an academy.

Even if coupled by so many letters, his official complaint about the Headmistress violating the rules to pursue her political agenda, was bound to rise little if no interest in the Court.

He sent it anyway, surrendering to fate without even attempting to fight was something that he would have regretted his whole life.

Lith's family was as furious as helpless, cursing the academy for its unfairness and themselves for their impotence. Lith was the less disappointed one from such turn of the events.

One way or another his plan worked, and that was good. On the other hand, though, that trip to the academy had been an eye opener about how ignorant he was about the new world and how fake magic had developed through the centuries.

Solus had confirmed to him that while the rude secretary had a deep cyan mana core, the Headmistress had a fully developed blue one. Lith had always felt so proud being one of the only two cyan core holders of the County, but not anymore.

He started regretting not having the possibility to at least check the other students and personnel of the academy, even if just to collect data about what was the average power level in the outside world.

Now that he was forced to follow his original plan, he had discovered so many unexpected flaws in it. The first and most annoying one was being forced to rot for another four years in Lustria County, where his talent was doomed to stagnate.

On their way back, the Count had confessed to him that rather not wanting to purchase tier five books, it was actually impossible for him. It wasn't only a matter of price, that would be enormous anyway, but he lacked the connections to obtain them.

He had already acquired all the books he could, which included only those that the Mage Association was willing to share with the general public. To get more he would need either a stroke of luck or the Association had to change its rules.

Both the events were highly unlikely. That meant that he was stuck with tier four spells that he had learned without understanding their purpose.

It was frustrating for him, like memorizing a mathematical equation just to pass a calculus exam, but knowing that you had been uncapable to comprehend the underlying meaning of it.

And during all those years of boredom, all the other magicians in the world would continue their education, shaving off four years of magical practice from the advantage he held.

Lith was still better than his peers because while they started their studies at six years of age or later, he had already started as a newborn. But soon all his hard work, the sacrifices, the hunger, would all turn out to be a fool's errand.

The second flaw was that he had completely underestimated the importance and distribution of magical items. He hadn't seen much, but it had been plenty enough to give him an itch in his head he could not scratch.

If it was possible to create such useful items with fake magic, then with true magic he would likely be able to wield and create superior version of those items, getting an even upper hand against other magicians.

Now, instead, he had no idea how they worked or how to acquire them. With enough knowledge, it could be even possible to help Solus regain her powers faster, maybe even reforge her or something.

"F*ck, I'm not just a frog in the well. I am a frog in a well in the middle of nowhere. Considering everything I saw in less than an hour, is not surprising at all that true magic is still a secret.

A fully magically equipped fake mage could probably fight with me on equal footing. I have no idea of the scope and availability of magical items.

Even if somehow, I manage to keep expanding my knowledge, my future travels are bound to be much more difficult than I had previously anticipated.

The only silver lining is that outside the biggest families, they should not be too much common, and that I managed to avoid five full years of being a bullied cripple.

But before calling myself lucky, I need more information. I am starting to suspect that I underestimated my circumstances a lot. Nana and Lark have a lot of explaining to do."

Lith took flight and moved towards Nana's house. The Count was just a magic enthusiast, after all, while she had actually attended to one of the six big academies, so she was bound to have much more inside knowledge.

At his arrival, he found out that Count Lark was there too, and had sent some villagers searching for Lith. Both of his patrons wanted to speak to him.

Since the waiting room was filled with patients, Lith helped Nana and Tista clear the queue so that Nana could leave Tista in charge and take a break for their talk.

Once inside Nana's living quarters, the three of them sat around her kitchen table.

"First of all, Lith, allow me to apologize. I never expected that old hag of Linnea to be willing to escalate our enmity to the next level. Making you pay for my mistakes, whether true or alleged, is beyond unfair.

But aside from that, from what I hear from Tista, you are taking this situation all too well. You still don't understand how wronged you have been, and that's also my fault. I stupidly respected the academy rules and kept its open secrets.

But since they are playing dirty and Lark is still willing to submit to apply in your stead for the remaining five big academies, I need to play dirty too and violate my oath.

If you want to have even a 1% chance of being admitted, you need to give your 100%, if not more. Enough with this crappy 'whatever' attitude of yours. There's a lot at stake, and we need you to take this seriously."

Lith knitted his eyebrows.

"What oath? What secrets? What are you talking about? I read that stupid academy pamphlet countless times. Sure, unless some miracle happens, I will not get to study tier five spells, but that's it. I can still become a member of the Mage Association.

To be honest, the idea of spending five years locked up with arrogant rich kids trying to stab me in the back is far from alluring. I can easily imagine what they would put me trough, day after day.

So, if it amounts to just some books, then thanks but no thanks."

Nana shook her head.

"It's so much more than just books. You see, you are right about the being look down upon and the daily bullying. The problem is that you are wrong about everything else. In your case, just like me, you wouldn't need five years, just two."

"How, exactly?" Two years were still a long period of time, but much more manageable than five, he had to concede her that much.

"The first three years cover the basics of magic. They teach things like the importance of accuracy in hand signs, accents, that kind of stuff.

Unlike you, many kids have to learn etiquette, history, geography, all kind of topics, not just how to read and write.

Otherwise they would be an embarrassment for their parents. In the Court life, they must also learn how to ride a horse, swordsmanship, playing an instrument, everything their parents need to brag about during social events."

Lith nodded.

"That off course takes time. Time that they cannot dedicate to the magical arts, hence needing to study the basics of the basics, even chore magic. You don't expect a young duke doing chores, do you?

Those like us, instead, need to go to the Academy only for the last two years, and the endless benefits it brings!"

At the words 'endless benefits' Lith's mouth was watering, his mind starting to second guess his decisions so far.

"What kind of benefits?"

"Have you ever thought why even the rich and the nobles send their kids there? If it was just about books, many students would rather avoid all the competition, just like you, and study in the safety of their homes.

What makes entering in one of the six big academies so alluring are the three benefits that only them can grant:

the access to all kind of spellbooks, the possibility to take one or more specialization courses and even more importantly the free access to magical items!"

Lith mouth was agape from the shock. Nana used his uncharacteristic silence to strike the iron while it was still hot.

"No matter what the tier, there are countless spells out there. Those you have studied here and at Lark's house are simply those that the Mage Association deems so common to be released to the public.

All the best spells, especially from tier four and five, are strictly controlled, and getting hold of even a sliver of knowledge is incredibly hard.

Only in a great academy you have free access to every topic, without restrictions, allowing you to build a great grimoire even before you set your foot out of the door.

If you get admitted to the fourth year, everything of tier four or below will be yours to take."

"What about the specializations?"

"Hmmm. That's complex to explain, let me make you a simple example. You are a healer, right?

Should you choose to become a master healer, not only you would be taught spells that even allow to regrow lost limbs, but most importantly, the secrets on how to more easily create your own light spells. The same applies to every specialization."

"What's your specialization?" Lith asked.

"I'm a war mage!" Nana puffed her chest with pride. "I was taught the secrets behind air magic, and back in the day I could have wiped out whole battalions all by myself.

Lightning hasn't many applications, but when it comes to destruction, is second to none.

But now let's get down to the juicy part, the one that I still regret the most.

The possibility to have access to a myriad of magical items."

Lith's interest was really piqued, so he let Nana continue, keeping his questions for later.

"Based on how a student performs, she is able to gain or lose points…"

"Individual points or group points?" Lith felt so dumb. He had not even finished his previous thought, that he already had been forced to contradict himself.

"I swear, if there's some kind of retarded household competition, I'll take back every second-guess I had about my choice."

Nana raised her eyebrows in disbelief.

"Do you even remember what did I tell you the last time about the academies and their students? Should you put a juicy slab of meat in front of ferocious hungry beasts, do you expect them to cooperate for it?

No! They would rather eat each other heart out. Off course the point system is individual. It's very similar to the merit system, but instead of gaining credit from the Kingdom, you gain it from the school itself.

The points are the only currency allowed inside the academy, and with them you can afford lots of things. Magical potions, enchanted items and even rare ingredients for you experiments. Obviously, the higher the value, the higher the price."

From the long pause, Lith assumed that she had finished and was waiting for his questions.

"What are magical potions? It's the first time I hear about them."

"Magic potions are like special spells in a vial. The most basic are alike to healing spells, but between the infirmary and the fact that everyone knows light magic, they are rarely purchased.

The more precious are those that allow the user to become temporarily faster, stronger, or even harden her skin if she suspects she will be forced to a melee fight."

"What about mana potions?"

"Mana what?"

"Isn't there any kind of potion to quickly restore one's mana?"

Nana laughed heartily.

"Kid, knowledge is shared on voluntary basis. If any master Potionist ever discovered something like that, he would keep it for himself. At least that's what I would do."

Lith was underwhelmed, potions seemed a poor imitation of his fusion magic.

"Not only they are consumable items, but you even have to waste your time bringing them around and replenishing your supply when needed. Plus, fake mages don't even have something like Invigoration.

The only good thing about potions, is that I can pretend to use them while I use fusion magic instead. Aside from that, they are not very interesting."

(AN: Invigoration is the breathing technique that allows Lith to quickly regain mana and stamina, to the point that he is able to go on for months without needing to sleep.

The longer he uses it, the shorter its effects last. The only way to reset its effects is to actually sleep. See chapter 8 for more details)

"I understand." Is what he actually said out loud.

"What kind of magical items can be purchased?"

"Every academy has at least ten Forgemasters residents. They act as both teachers and researchers in the magical field.

They usually put out for sale their lesser works, but they can even bring out high grade magical items, when the academy wants to stir up a rat race, like right before the final exams.

The most useful items I had, were a dimensional amulet and rings from tier one to three. The dimensional amulet allowed me to bring around whatever I needed without suffering its weight, while the rings were able to store spells of the same tier, allowing for an instant cast."

Lith didn't miss the strict use of the past tense while referring to her possessions. He felt sorry for her, but instead of hyping him, her speech was having the opposite effect.

"A dimensional amulet? Is it some kind of magical storage item?" He played dumb.

Nana nodded.

"Brilliant as usual. Yes, dimensional rings and amulets can store anything inanimated up to a fixed volume of space, regardless of the weight.

The lowest class has only a few cubic meters available, the highest class can store even fifty cubic meters (65 cubic yards). The size of a whole small house."

The underwhelming feeling was getting deeper.

"Solus, how much can our pocket dimension store?"

"At the moment the storage can hold thrice as much the so-called highest class, and is still expanding. The library space, or Soluspedia, as you call it, is now around thirty cubic meters (39 square yards) big. And it's also expanding."

Lith's poker face was good, but not that good. Nana could see that he wasn't impressed at all.

"What's with that face? Do you understand or not that whatever you get during your studies, you get to keep it once you graduate? Have you any idea how difficult and expensive is to purchase even the lowest magical item?"

Lith closed his eyes while rubbing his forehead.

"How can I even pretend to be interested in something that I already have or I can do better? Sure, those things would help me greatly keeping hidden my true magic. Whenever I employ an instant cast, I could use the rings as a cover. But that's it."

Being an expert liar, Lith knew what his limits were. So, he changed topic.

"The Forgemaster's job seems really interesting. Is it possible to specialize in such field? Does one need to also be a blacksmith to become a Forgemaster?"

"Yes, it's among the available choices. And no, blacksmithing is not required. A Forgemaster does not create anything, he just imbues objects with magical properties, be it a ring, an amulet, a chair or even a day dress.

They can't possibly master all the craftsmen jobs. Most of them prefer to just learn the basic of their favourite trade, though. So, a Forgemaster specialized in rings will know something about goldsmithing, and so on."

"That's really interesting." And for once Lith wasn't just pretending.

Out of the three topics, the only ones that really interested him were the books and the specialization. With an endless supply of knowledge, he could easily recreate or invent all kinds of spell with true magic.

But that was still something that he could figure out on his own, with time and experience. Becoming a Forgemaster, instead, would be a priceless treasure for him.

Lith had no knowledge about such arts, hence he could never grasp even the basics without an external help.

But once he had uncovered the underlying principles of forgemastering, coupling them with true magic and the academy's library, he would be able to unlock infinite possibilities.

Just the ideas about magical items that came to him on the spot were enough to give him an adrenaline rush.

But when his excitement was at his peak, a sudden thought sent chills down his spine.

"Before getting my hopes up, can you explain to me how one does get points? There is no such a thing about daily challenges between students, tournaments or something, right?"

Nana laughed her a*s off.

"That's such an idiotic idea! Not even the wildest rumours would go that far. Otherwise they would be called magic graveyards instead of academies. There's already enough violence going around as it is.

If any Headmaster started to reward students for their behaviour, only a dozen mages would graduate each year, and no one would make their children enrol. A war battlefield would be much safer."

Lith could sigh with relief, one of his biggest worries had just faded away.

"Points are earned mostly through how a student performance in class and during practical exercises. Any feat that benefits the academy, like sharing personal spells, gives additional points.

But the real motherlode are the quarterly exams and the finals. All points can be converted anytime, even after graduating successfully, that's why there is so much competition for the top spots.

Beware, thought. Even if discipline won't give you any extra point, it can easily make you lose a lot of them. Aside from failing tests repeatedly, is the only way to lower your score.

If it goes to negative, you'll be forced to compensate by giving back everything you might have already bought. That's how I lost everything I had."

Nana sighed, her voice filled with sadness and regret, tormenting her neck where probably her dimensional amulet used to be.

Count Lark intervened, explaining their reason to hide such things from him.

"We didn't tell you any of this before, to not put you under any more stress and to not raise your expectations about your future too much, in case of failure.

Most of the applicants get rejected. In the past, when such knowledge was publicly available, there have been countless suicides among the youths that either couldn't bear the pressure or handle the failure.

Especially for those of humble origin, being admitted in a magic academy is the only way to escape their destiny. To a lesser extent, the same could be said for nobles' and merchants' sons that are not in the line of succession."

"I can see that happening. But honestly, I don't see the point in telling me all this. Is not like I got rejected for lack of trying." He lied.

"What do you expect me to do? Travel through all the County looking for magical beasts? Cause disasters just to be able to solve them? Honestly, I don't think there is any amount of merits that could change my situation."

The Count shook his head.

"We don't expect you to do anything but your best. You have spent years trying to dissuade me to not send you to the academy, and don't think that I didn't notice your total lack of enthusiasm during our trip.

You acted the whole time like it was all about someone else, someone you didn't care about. You didn't stand up for yourself, you only wanted to get out of that room!"

"Well, maybe you are right. But maybe I just wanted to avoid the Headmistress killing you on the spot. Also, it was you telling me to shut up. It would have been beyond stupid adding oil to the fire." Lith wasn't lying.

In that moment, when he had saw the Headmistress' eyes overloading with mana, he had been seriously worried about the Lark's family destiny, and had decided to drag the Count away as soon as possible.

"Point taken. You are right." Count Lark sat down with a depressed face.

"Bottom line, we still have a few cards to play. Most likely, nothing will come out of them. But if by any chance we succeed, we need you to do more than sit on the side-lines. That's the point."

That long conversation had been pretty exhausting for Lith, adding new weight to his burden. Not for the information he acquired, all in all he felt his opportunity were still pretty good with or without an academy.

The only adjustment to his plans was that after joining the Mage Association as a de facto outer circle member, a rogue magician, he would need to rack up merits as soon as he could, to get himself an apprenticeship with a good Forgemaster.

Normal merits would do him no good, he needed those he could earn as a magico, serving the Mage Association as best as he could.

The only real problem with his current situation would be rotting for yet four more years, like the proverbial frog in the well.

The reason why Lith felt so down, was that he had finally realized how much his friends had invested in him, not only in terms of money, but also time, passion and hopes.

It wasn't the failure bothering him, but the fact that with his brash and uncaring attitude, he had hurt their feeling, treating the whole thing as a joke. Lith had to admit that in their shoes, he would feel like having casted pearls to a swine for years.

Sure, Count Lark wasn't as judgmental as him, but Lith could see how deeply he cared, and how wounded he was after the last rebuke.

It was the first time that Lith felt that by having won an argument he had actually lost the war.

But aside from second-guessing, there wasn't much he could do at that point. So, he promised himself to reconsider everything with a fresh set of eyes if the opportunity arose, and decided to move to a more pressing problem.

Lith had yet to solve his problems with tier four magic, and asking Nana was out of the question. It would reveal too much to her, exposing how deep his comprehension of magic was, despite being a self-taught.

The only card he had yet to play was to ask the help of his friend, the Ry king in the west of the Trawn woods. Thanks to his cyan mana core, Lith had become less scared of it, and during the last few years they had developed an odd relationship.

Lith would use him as a confident, sometime asking it advice about fire and wind magic, the two elements the Ry could use. In exchange Lith would help him with the problems in the east zone of the woods.

After Irtu's death, there wasn't a magical beast strong enough to take its place, and from time to time the power struggle among the various factions would affect the balance of the forest.

In those situations, the Scourge and the Protector would join hands to force the magical beasts to a truce.

At the moment, tier four fake magic was a mental bottleneck that neither he or Solus could overcome. Despite being able to cast all the spells he had found in the Count's books, they kept making no sense to him.

It was something unacceptable, eating Lith from the inside.

He had always hated riddles, unless he was the one giving them.

Lith had almost arrived home, when he caught a familiar smell.

"What the heck are you doing outside the woods? If someone sees you, it could trigger a witch hunt. The last thing I need right now is you having a bounty on your head and me having to explain why I'm not interested."

"I know." The Ry replied. "But desperate times call for desperate measures. A monster has appeared in the woods, strong enough to pose a threat for my cubs as well for yours. We need your help."

"I have never seen the Ry scared before, whatever this is, it must be damn important." Lith thought.

After agreeing to help, the Ry asked him to hop on its back, before running at full speed towards the woods. Between the use of air fusion and its physical prowess, Protector was able to easily reach the 300kph (186 mph), it would be a short trip.

When going so fast, the Ry would conjure a wedge-shaped wind blade in front of itself, so to protect their eyes and face from insects and dust, that at that speed would hit them with the strength of a bullet.

It would also create a slipstream effect, allowing it to go even faster.

Lith's horsemanship amounted to the result of one lesson, two lifetimes ago, so he needed all his focus and willpower to not fall down.

The Ry had a thick and soft fur, but not being able to follow its movements, he was forced to use both earth fusion and light fusion to prevent permanent damage to his nether regions.

"What the f*ck it's this thing? Is it really necessary to go so fast? If it keeps like this, I don't know if there will be enough of me left to do anything!"

"Quit whining, we are almost there. And yes, speed it's of the utmost importance when facing an Abomination."

Lith's mind went through all the bestiaries he had in Soluspedia and all his table top and videogames RPG memories before giving up.

"What the heck is an Abomination? Why is it so dangerous?"

"You don't understand. We don't call it Abomination for what it does, but for what it is!"

They were headed north, in a region of the woods that he had never visited before. It started slowly, like the tension in the air before a storm. Only when they got deeper in the woods, Lith could understand what the Ry meant.

Soon the grass started to thin out, until there was none at all. The earth laid bare, with no undergrowth of any kind, dried and crumbling as after a months lasting drought.

The trees around them had their bark completely blackened out. They had no leaves nor branches left standing, resembling giant wooden stakes. There was no sound at all, everything seemed out of a post-apocalyptic movie, after a nuclear fallout.

The natural landscape was completely destroyed as far the eye could see.

After a while Lith could clearly hear the sounds from a battle, so he focused his eyes, enhancing his eyesight.

They were closing in to some kind of moving shadow, locked in ranged combat with a Gylad, a stag magical beast with a shoulder height of over two metres (7 feet) and weighting at least nine hundred kilograms (2,000 pounds), its fur light brown with shades of blue.

Attacking the shadow from the flank, there was also a Shyf, a puma magical beast as big as a tiger, with a shoulder height one and a half metres (5 feet) and weighting over three hundred kilograms (660 pounds). It had a honey-coloured fur with shades of green.

"The Gylad is the king in the north, Lifebringer, while the Shyf is the king in the south, Reaper." Protector quickly introduced Lith to their allies.

"That thing is the Abomination. Stay away from it as much as you can, or it will suck you dry like everything else."

The Abomination was oddly shaped, it could stand up on its legs, resembling a man with very long and thin limbs, or would stand on all four, becoming large and stumpy like a pig a kid had drawn.

"What the heck is that thing?" Lith unleashed five fireballs with a wave of the hand. The Abomination was surrounded by a thin black fog, with a radius of fifteen meters (16.4 yards).